The news: Meta, Google, Snapchat, and Microsoft issued a joint warning after the EU’s ePrivacy Directive expired. The directive included parameters to allow digital leaders to scan user chat logs for child sexual abuse material; the expiration makes broad scans of user chats without legal basis illegal under current privacy laws.

The companies said they would take voluntary steps to protect children and privacy on their platforms while advocating to preserve existing safeguards.

Zooming out: The timing is especially notable: The EU’s lapse in child sexual abuse material (CSAM)-scanning protections comes just as social platforms are facing broader global pressure to better safeguard minors.

The loss of this EU safeguard makes it harder for platforms to argue that they are doing enough to protect minors—and easier for regulators to justify tougher action.

• Greece announced plans to ban social media for children under 15 starting in 2027 on Wednesday, citing concerns like sleep problems, social addiction, and increasing anxiety. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated his intent to push the EU in this direction.
• Greece is following a global trend that started when Australia made a landmark decision to ban social media access for under-16s in December. India and the United Kingdom are considering similar actions.
• The US advanced a modified version of the Kids Online Safety Act in December, while several states like New York and California have introduced age verification legislation.

These regulatory moves maintain widespread support from adults who strongly back stricter protections for minors online. That broad public backing could make it harder for platforms to defend themselves politically if the loss of CSAM-scanning capability is seen as creating additional risks for children.

Implications for marketers: The expiration creates a prickly environment for platforms at a moment when regulators are increasingly willing to impose restrictions or outright bans if they fail to protect young users.

The ePrivacy Directive creates a gap between the increasing pressure of child safety expectations and what platforms are legally allowed to do. That could force advertisers to more closely assess whether these platforms align with their privacy standards, especially as the same companies face growing scrutiny tied to social media bans.