Snapchat has been accused by a Danish research organisation of allowing an “overwhelming number” of drug dealers to operate openly on its platform, making it easy for children to buy substances including cocaine, opioids and MDMA.
Digitalt Ansvar (Digital Accountability), which promotes responsible digital development, found that the platform failed to moderate obvious drug-related usernames such as “coke”, “weed” and “molly”. Researchers using profiles of 13-year-olds reported 40 profiles openly selling drugs to Snapchat, but only 10 were removed. The remaining 30 reports were rejected, according to the study.
The investigation also found that Snapchat’s recommendation systems promoted drug-dealing profiles to users, including children who had not previously shown interest. Within hours, the researchers’ test profiles were recommended up to 70 suspected drug-dealing accounts after just one friend connected to a dealer.
Ask Hesby Holm, chief executive of Digitalt Ansvar, said: “As a child or young person, you don’t need to search for these profiles yourself; you can have them recommended directly by Snapchat. That is deeply problematic.” He added that Snapchat could easily filter such usernames, saying: “It’s not technology that’s lacking, it is will.”
In response, a Snapchat spokesperson said the company had “zero tolerance” for drug sales and that more than 75% of the accounts flagged in the study had already been disabled before the report was published. All accounts had now been removed. The spokesperson stressed that Snapchat uses proactive detection and works with law enforcement across Europe to combat drug dealing.
Digitalt Ansvar accused Snapchat of breaking EU digital service rules on child protection and called for authorities to act. Snapchat said that in 2023 it had a 90% reach of 13- to 24-year-olds in the Nordics.
