Doctors demand action from Snapchat against illegal trade in Vapes

A group of Dutch doctors demand that VideoBeichtplatform Snapchat does more to prevent the illegal sale of Vapes via the platform. That writes Youth Prevention Foundation on Tuesday in a fire letter addressed to Snapchat. If the company does not adjust its policy within two weeks, the Foundation wants to take legal action.

Vapes with a taste have been forbidden in the Netherlands for over a year, but dealers are still active on Snapchat. « Anyone looking for Snapchat on a username with ‘Vape’ in it has found a dealer, » says Laura van Gijn from Advocatenbureau De Roos, who sent the letter to Snapchat on behalf of the doctors. Often both buyers and the dealers are minors, says the lawyer.

The letter was signed by, among others, doctors from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek-Hospital, KWF Kankerbestrijding, the Long Fund and the Hartstichting.

Discount

Through Snapchat, young people get order lists with emojis and prices for Vapes and they are added unsolicited by VAPE dealers, the doctors say. In one videopart of the ‘Vapen #jouw choice’ campaign, teenagers explain that it is ‘too easy’ to buy vapes and that dealers give discounts when their advertisements are shared with others. « If you help that dealer with promoting you get a discount, » says a minor in the campaign video.

Snapchat is already working on keeping harmful content and can do much more against promoting vapes than is currently happening, says Van Gijn. « Snapchat has trays of data and developers who know exactly how this works. They are already keeping the content of naked people and can even distinguish a men’s nipple in moving image, but not filter the word » vape « ? »

Digital Services Act

In the Thursday sent letter, the doctors refer, among other things, to Snapchat’s obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA) of the European Union. According to the DSA, platforms are the first to be responsible for the published content; One of the spearheads of the law is the protection of minors against online risks. Violations of the DSA can lead to high fines, rising to 6 percent of the worldwide annual turnover of a platform.

Lawyer Van Gijn says that Snapchat has announced in an automated message that he has received the letter. The platform has fourteen days to announce adjustments. If that does not happen, the lawyers will go to the Consumer & Market Authority and the European Commission. « We do not rule out that in the future we will also take steps through other legal roads against these types of platforms, » ​​says Van Gijn.

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