The names of the profiles may look cryptic, but the common denominator is unmistakable.
Coke.randers
Stereoids.kbh
Cannabis.odense
Those are three of the 20 fake drug-related profiles that the organization Digital Accountability, which among other things combats digital abuse, created on Snapchat. It was part of an investigation into what the popular social media platform is doing to fight the sale of drugs on its service.
The profiles were created with names tied to illegal drugs, and the investigation shows, according to Digital Accountability, that Snapchat is not doing enough to curb opportunities to buy and sell narcotics. Danish police have warned of a growing problem with drugs being sold through social media platforms like Snapchat.
»Why on earth should you be allowed on Snapchat to create a profile that very clearly has only one purpose: selling drugs«, says Ask Hesby Holm, CEO of Digital Accountability.
He explained that none of the test profiles had been removed from Snapchat after 15 days, and that five of the profiles were still active three months after they were created. The drug-related profiles were not automatically blocked, which, Ask Hesby Holm says, runs counter to earlier statements from Snapchat that it would crack down more aggressively on words linked to narcotics.
»It simply can’t be right that these drug profiles are allowed to sit there for so long without anyone responding«, he says.
»They could make it difficult — or outright illegal— to include references to drugs in a profile name, something young people can search for or be exposed to«.
Snapchat declined to be interviewed, but said in a response to Politiken that all of the profiles mentioned in the investigation have now been deactivated, and that the claims in Digital Accountability’s investigation are based on outdated information.
»For example, earlier this year we took additional steps specifically to address concerns related to account names, and we have proactively consulted law enforcement authorities across Europe to identify new search terms and emojis that criminals use«, writes Christian Mogensen, Snapchat’s Nordic head of public policy.
Ran out of patience
Snapchat has more than two million users in Denmark. Globally, that number is closer to a billion.
Drug sales have increasingly migrated to social media, and last year Digital Accountability documented and reported a number of Snapchat profiles for selling narcotics. According to Digital Accountability, only 10 of the 40 drug-related profiles were removed after they were reported.
Snapchat has a different account of the case.
Snapchat says that 75 percent of the profiles had already been deactivated by the service’s systems by the time the report was published, and that all the profiles were removed.
That case – and the new revelations from Digital Accountability – prompted Karina Lorentzen of SF to report Snapchat to the police’s National Unit for Special Crime (NSK).
»I’ve simply run out of patience. We need to test the reach of the regulation that exists today. Because if a company like Snapchat knows this is going on and does nothing, then it at least bears a form of contributing responsibility«, she says.
But in this latest attempt, these were fake profiles that were not actively selling drugs. Don’t you have the right to call yourself whatever you want?
»No, I don’t think so, not when it concerns drugs, which are illegal to sell in Denmark. I think that’s deeply problematic, because it’s basically shouting to the outside world – primarily young users – that here’s something you can buy«.
Snapchat rejected the criticism and said its guidelines clearly prohibit any buying or selling of illegal drugs and that it works proactively to stop it. In 2025, Snapchat said, it removed more than 2.2 million instances of drug-related content and deactivated 538,000 profiles.
»Snapchat continuously develops and implements methods to detect and stop offenders«, Christian Mogensen writes.
European pressure
In its latest report, Digital Accountability also examined whether Snapchat users can search for profiles whose names are linked to illegal drugs.
And it is difficult, the investigation found, if you use Snapchat’s mobile app, which the vast majority of users do.
Digital Accountability got no results when it searched for drug-related words there.
The report’s authors did, however, get results when they accessed Snapchat on a computer and searched for types of drugs in combination with a city name.
Even though Snapchat appears to make it harder to find drug profiles in the app, Digital Accountability criticizes the fact that »safety and search restrictions are not enforced consistently«.
Digital Accountability and Karina Lorentzen of SF are not the only ones focusing on Snapchat. In March, the European Commission opened an investigation into whether Snapchat is doing enough to protect young users on the platform – including when it comes to exposure to illegal drugs.
Snapchat says the service is cooperating with the commission in connection with the investigation.
The company states in the written response that»the safety and well-being of all Snapchat users is a top priority«.
