User-Generated Content
BR
0
Not Available
EU
0
Not Available
UK
0
Not Available
Advertising
BR
0
Not Available
EU
2
Negligible
UK
0
Not Available
20 Snapchat
Snapchat provides no UGC data transparency resource enabling programmatic access to public content in any assessed region. In the EU, it offers curated datasets to selected researchers under its own conditions, but this does not meet the criteria applied in this analysis. Advertising transparency is assessed through the platform’s Ads Gallery API and GUI, nominally available only in the EU, with no equivalent resource in Brazil or the UK. Under the UGC framework, the platform offers no public API, no graphical tool, and no structured data access program for extracting user-generated content in any of the assessed regions, placing UGC transparency in the Not Available band across all three. On advertising, Brazil and the UK score zero across all criteria, as no advertising data access tools are available in these markets. In the EU, Snapchat nominally provides an Ads Gallery API and GUI scoped to EU-delivered advertising content; however, the API consistently returned rate-limit errors during independent testing, and the GUI did not yield any data on ads served in response to any query, rendering functional verification impossible. Overall, advertising transparency ranges from Not Available in Brazil and the UK to Negligible in the EU, indicating that independent research on Snapchat’s content and advertising ecosystems is effectively constrained by the absence of operational data access infrastructure.
20.1 Transparency Assessment
20.2 User-Generated Content
Coverage: BR, EU, UK
20.2.1 Special Criteria
20.2.1.1 UGC_SC1: Does the platform provide an API that enables the structured extraction of public user-generated content data for independent analysis?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.1.2 UGC_SC2: Can the full scope of public content data be extracted through the platform’s API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.1.3 UGC_SC3: Is access to the platform’s API free of charge?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.1.4 UGC_SC4: Does the platform offer a graphical interface for extracting data?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.2 Accessibility
20.2.2.1 UGC_OC1: Can the requested data be extracted directly from the platform’s API response?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.2.2 UGC_OC2: Does the platform’s API support renewable authentication mechanisms without risk of data loss?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.2.3 UGC_OC3: Does the platform’s API offer an endpoint for extracting data from an individual publication?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.2.5 UGC_OC5: Does the platform’s API provide an endpoint for extracting data based on search terms?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.2.6 UGC_OC6: Does the API use locale-neutral data representations?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3 Compliance
20.2.3.1 UGC_OC7: Does the platform implement a proper deprecation strategy to avoid breaking client applications while rolling out major changes in the API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.2 UGC_OC8: Is the platform’s API documentation published in open access?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.3 UGC_OC9: Is the platform’s API documentation clearly written and exemplified?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.4 UGC_OC10: Does the platform’s documentation include or link to the API or data access terms of use?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.5 UGC_OC11: Does the platform’s API documentation detail the response format of each endpoint?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.6 UGC_OC12: Does the platform provide its API documentation in the official languages of the assessed region?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.7 UGC_OC13: Does the platform’s API documentation detail the quota or rate limits applicable to each available endpoint?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.3.8 UGC_OC14: Does the platform provide a way to label content that has been generated with artificial intelligence?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.4 Completeness
20.2.4.1 UGC_OC15: Can data from a publication’s comments be extracted using the platform’s API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ➖ Not applicable | - |
| EU | ➖ Not applicable | - |
| UK | ➖ Not applicable | - |
20.2.4.2 UGC_OC16: Can data from temporary content be extracted through the platform’s API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ➖ Not applicable | - |
| EU | ➖ Not applicable | - |
| UK | ➖ Not applicable | - |
20.2.4.3 UGC_OC17: Can historical data be extracted through the platform’s API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.4.4 UGC_OC18: Is the number of requests allowed by the API sufficient for monitoring more than 10,000 publications in 24 hours?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.5 Consistency
20.2.5.1 UGC_OC19: Are the results returned by the API consistently reproducible?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.5.2 UGC_OC20: Is the data returned by the platform’s API consistent with the parameters and filters used in the request?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.6 Relevance
20.2.6.1 UGC_OC21: Does the data extracted by the platform’s API reflect what is displayed on its user interface?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.6.3 UGC_OC23: Does the platform’s API allow for filtering data based on content language?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.6.4 UGC_OC24: Does the platform’s API allow for filtering data by specific time periods?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.2.7 Timeliness
20.2.7.1 UGC_OC25: Can data from newly published content be extracted from the platform’s API in near real time?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | - |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3 Advertising
Coverage: BR, EU, UK
20.3.1 Special Criteria
20.3.1.1 AD_SC1: Does the platform provide an API to access its ad repository and extract data on advertising content for independent analysis?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | In the EU, Snapchat provides the Ads Gallery API for collecting data on ads and commercial content, such as sponsored posts. In practice, however, its functionality is limited and difficult to use. Despite multiple attempts by different researchers, the API could not be successfully tested and consistently returned a “too many requests” error. In principle, the API should offer at least one endpoint for accessing public advertising data, but in practice this functionality does not appear to be operational. Moreover, the API’s scope is narrow and advertiser-centric: queries must be made using an advertiser’s Snapchat ID rather than a brand name or creator, which substantially restricts discoverability. As a result, the API is not suitable for broad research use and does not support comprehensive or historical extraction of advertising content served in the EU. Available filters are limited to advertiser, geography, and time period, with historical access restricted to a maximum of 12 months. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.1.2 AD_SC2: Does the platform provide a graphical user interface to its ad repository for extracting advertising content data?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Snapchat provides access to the Snapchat Ads Gallery, which appears to provide access to data on ads hich were delivered to users in the EU over the past 12 months. However, it is not possible to extract structured data from its GUI. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.1.3 AD_SC3: Can data from both active and inactive ads be extracted?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | As we were unable to test the functionalities of the Snapchat Ads Gallery API or to extract structured data from its GUI, verification was not possible. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2 Accessibility
20.3.2.1 AD_OC1: Does the platform provide a GUI for accessing and visualizing its ad repository?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | While, in principle, the Snapchat Ads Gallery GUI allows users to view advertising content and related data served to users in the European Union over the past 12 months, multiple tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results, rendering verification impossible. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.2 AD_OC2: Is access to the platform’s ad repository free of charge?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ✅ Free API and GUI access | Even though we were unable to make it function, either through the API or the GUI, access to the Snapchat Ads Gallery is free of charge. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.3 AD_OC3: Can the requested data be extracted directly from the ad repository response?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and the GUI does not allow for structured data extraction. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.4 AD_OC4: Does the platform’s ad repository API provide a form of authentication that allows for renewal without the risk of data loss?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.5 AD_OC5: Can data from an individual ad be retrieved from the platform?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.6 AD_OC6: Can data from ads served by a specific advertiser be retrieved from the platform?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.7 AD_OC7: Can ad data be retrieved from the platform using search terms?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.2.8 AD_OC8: Does the platform use locale-neutral data representations?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.3 Completeness
20.3.3.1 AD_OC9: Does the platform provide data that allows the identification of advertisers who ran ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.3.2 AD_OC10: Does the platform provide data on the funders who paid for ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.3.3 AD_OC11: Does the platform provide data on the period during which ads were served?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.3.4 AD_OC12: Does the platform provide data on user engagement with ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.3.5 AD_OC13: Does the platform indicate whether ads were placed by verified or unverified advertisers?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4 Compliance
20.3.4.1 AD_OC14: Does the platform flag ads that were removed due to violations of its guidelines or relevant legislation?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.2 AD_OC15: Does the platform indicate whether ad content was generated using artificial intelligence?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.3 AD_OC16: Is the platform’s ad repository documentation published in open access?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ✅ Yes, the API documentation | The documentation for the Snapchat Ads Gallery API is published in open access, but no documentation or FAQ was found for the GUI. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.4 AD_OC17: Is the platform’s ad repository documentation clearly written and exemplified?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ✅ Yes, the API documentation | The Snapchat Ads Gallery API documentation is clearly written and exemplified. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.5 AD_OC18: Does the platform’s ad repository documentation include or link to its terms of use?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | The terms of use for the Snapchat Ads Gallery API are not linked in its official documentation. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.6 AD_OC19: Does the platform provide its ad repository documentation in the official languages of the assessed region?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | The Snapchat Ads Gallery API documentation is available exclusively in English. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.7 AD_OC20: Does the platform implement a proper deprecation strategy to avoid breaking client applications while rolling out major changes in the API?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | The Snapchat Ads Gallery API documentation does not appear to describe any deprecation strategies. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.8 AD_OC21: Does the platform’s ad repository API documentation detail the response format of each endpoint?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ✅ Yes | Detailed explanations are provided in the Snapchat Ads Gallery API documentation. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.4.9 AD_OC22: Does the platform’s ad repository API documentation detail the quota or rate limits applicable to each available endpoint?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | The Snapchat Ads Gallery API documentation does not detail the quota or rate limits applicable to each available endpoint. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.5 Consistency
20.3.5.1 AD_OC23: Does the data retrieved by the API reflect what is displayed on the platform’s ad repository GUI?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.5.2 AD_OC24: Are the results returned by the platform consistently reproducible?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.5.3 AD_OC25: Is the data returned by the platform consistent with the parameters and filters used in the request?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.6 Relevance
20.3.6.1 AD_OC26: Does the platform allow the use of temporal filters to retrieve data on ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.6.2 AD_OC27: Does the platform allow filtering advertising data by ad category?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.6.3 AD_OC28: Does the platform allow filtering advertising data by geographic location?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.7 Accuracy
20.3.7.1 AD_OC29: Does the platform provide age and gender data on the audiences of ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.7.2 AD_OC30: Does the platform provide subnational geographic data on the audience reached by ads?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.7.3 AD_OC31: Does the platform include data on audience targeting criteria defined by advertisers?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.7.4 AD_OC32: Does the platform provide granular volume ranges for ad impressions?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |
20.3.7.5 AD_OC33: Does the platform provide granular investment ranges for ad spending?
| Region | Answer | Note |
|---|---|---|
| BR | ❌ No | - |
| EU | ❌ No | Verification was not possible because API access tests consistently returned a “too many requests” error, and multiple GUI-based tests conducted independently by different researchers returned no results. |
| UK | ❌ No | - |