Anti-smoking lobby slates SnapChat over illegal vape dealers

Anti-smoking association Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd is threatening popular platform SnapChat with legal action if it does not stop dealers from selling illegal vapes to youngsters.

Although vapes containing flavourings have been illegal for over a year, they are still for sale via SnapChat and other online channels. Other illegal vapes contain high levels of nicotine and cancer-causing metals and toxins.

Snapchat “is the place for vape dealers to reach teens, children tell us,” lung pathologist Daniëlle Cohen said. “We see an increasing number of young people with a serious addiction to nicotine from using these products, with huge consequences for their mental and physical health.”

SnapChat is not doing enough to stop the promotion of vapes, the group claimed. “We are demanding that SnapChat step up their efforts to exclude this sort of content,” lawyer Laura van Gijn told broadcaster NOS, referring to the Digital Services Act. 

If SnapChat can recognise and exclude naked pictures, it can exclude the promotion of vapes, Van Gijn said.

The platform has two weeks to comply with the demands. If not, the lawyer will make a formal complaint to consumer watchdog ACM and the European Commission, who will take further action.

Trimbos research has shown that one in five young people under the age of 25 uses a vape, and 70% of them also smoke tobacco cigarettes. The age limit of 18 for using vapes is also widely flouted, and internet sales have flourished.

At least 14 children were hospitalised in 2024 as a result of using vapes, and paediatricians suspect many more children are experiencing health problems.

At least five teenagers and young adults in the Netherlands have almost died after excessive vaping, and four were kept in an artificial coma for a longer period.