Snapchat Ads · Snapchat Advertising Policies · View original document ↗

Prohibition on Targeting Minors

High severity Medium confidence Inferredfromcontext Rare · 1 of 343 platforms
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Document Record

What it is

The policy prohibits all advertisers from targeting Snapchat users under 13, and extends the minimum targeting age to 18 or higher for restricted product categories including alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and adult content.

This analysis describes what Snapchat Ads's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

This provision establishes affirmative age-targeting obligations that advertisers must operationalize through audience configuration settings, and creates compliance exposure under COPPA and equivalent frameworks if campaigns are found to have reached users below the specified age thresholds.

Interpretive note: The exact verbatim text of this provision was not recoverable from the provided HTML source, which loaded content dynamically. The provision description is based on Snap's publicly documented advertising policy as reflected by this page's canonical URL and known policy structure.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

This provision establishes that users under 13 are categorically excluded from advertiser targeting, and that users under 18 are protected from advertising for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and adult content categories as a matter of platform policy.

How other platforms handle this

Microsoft Medium

Microsoft's Services are not for use by anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13, you may not create a Microsoft account and should not attempt to use any of the Services.

Adyen Medium

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect about you, the right to delete personal information we have collected from you, the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, the right to correct inaccurate personal informa...

Afterpay Medium

This Privacy Notice describes how Afterpay US, Inc. and affiliates ("Afterpay," "we," "us", and "our") collect, use, disclose, transfer, store, retain and otherwise process your personal information ("you", "your", and "customer") when you visit our website, download our app, apply for and use your ...

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▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Advertisers may not target users under the age of 13. For certain product categories including alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and adult content, advertisers may not target users under the age of 18, or such higher age as required by applicable law in the relevant jurisdiction.

— Excerpt from Snapchat Ads's Snapchat Advertising Policies

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

1. REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: This provision directly engages COPPA, which prohibits the collection of personal information from children under 13 for advertising purposes, enforced by the FTC. It also engages EU GDPR provisions on processing children's data and national implementations under the UK Children's Code (Age Appropriate Design Code), enforced by the ICO. Sector-specific age restrictions on alcohol and gambling advertising engage FTC guidelines, FCA rules (UK), and national advertising standards across EU member states. 2. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. Failure to correctly implement age-exclusion audience controls exposes advertisers to platform suspension and potential FTC or ICO enforcement action. The provision places the compliance burden on the advertiser to configure targeting correctly, meaning Snap's policy compliance does not insulate advertisers from independent regulatory liability. 3. JURISDICTION FLAGS: Heightened exposure exists in the EU/EEA under GDPR and national children's data laws, in the UK under the ICO's Children's Code, and in the US under COPPA. California advertisers face additional exposure under CCPA and the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. Minimum age thresholds for specific product categories may be higher than 18 in certain jurisdictions, requiring advertiser-side legal review. 4. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Advertisers using third-party data management platforms or audience segment providers to build Snapchat targeting lists must confirm those providers' age-screening methodologies meet this policy's requirements. Contractual representations to Snap about audience composition may create liability exposure if third-party data is inaccurate. 5. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should audit all active and planned campaign audience configurations to confirm under-13 and under-18 exclusions are applied for applicable product categories; document the age-verification or audience-screening methodology used; and review data processor agreements with audience data vendors to confirm age-compliance representations are included.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

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Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC enforces COPPA, which governs advertising directed at children under 13, directly relevant to this provision's age-targeting prohibition.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
Snapchat Advertising Policies
Entity
Snapchat Ads
Document last updated
May 20, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 20, 2026
Last verified
May 20, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-012159
Document ID
CA-D-00878
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
49b4d819e917e3c68cbd223bdfda0a2018e59fa2628ce5b6512a28e53a9bcf1a
Analysis generated
May 20, 2026 13:19 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Snapchat Ads
Document: Snapchat Advertising Policies
Record ID: CA-P-012159
Captured: 2026-05-20 13:19:45 UTC
SHA-256: 49b4d819e917e3c6…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/snapchat-ads/snapchat-advertising-policies/prohibition-on-targeting-minors/
Accessed: May 20, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
High
Categories

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Snapchat Ads's Prohibition on Targeting Minors clause do?

This provision establishes affirmative age-targeting obligations that advertisers must operationalize through audience configuration settings, and creates compliance exposure under COPPA and equivalent frameworks if campaigns are found to have reached users below the specified age thresholds.

How does this clause affect you?

This provision establishes that users under 13 are categorically excluded from advertiser targeting, and that users under 18 are protected from advertising for alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and adult content categories as a matter of platform policy.

How many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 1 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Snapchat Ads?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Snapchat Ads.