Snapchat, the self-deleting messaging app, introduced its first parental controls, Family Center, on Tuesday. With this, Snapchat also wants to counter the increasing criticism of social media platforms for exposing young users to potentially harmful content and not adequately protecting them. The relevance of the platform is high because Snapchat, alongside TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, is a central communication tool for young people.

Family Center allows parental control

Snap, Snapchat's parent company, explained in a blog post ( HERE ) that its new tools allow parents to see who their teens are friends with on the app and who they have communicated with in the last seven days. Parents will also be able to report profiles their children are friends with if they violate Snapchat's policies. However, parents cannot see their children's conversations on the app.

Screenshots of the new Snapchat Family Center, Image: Snapchat
Screenshots of the new Snapchat Family Center, Image: Snapchat

Parents need their own account

To access the controls in Family Center, users must create Snapchat accounts and be friends with their children, who must consent to the controls. The company said it will introduce more features later, including one that will allow parents to see who their children have recently befriended. Additionally, teens can notify their parents when they report accounts or content.

“Our goal was to develop a set of tools that reflect the dynamics of real relationships and promote collaboration and trust between parents and teenagers.”

Snap Inc. (HERE)

Snap, Instagram, TikTok and other social media companies are facing questions from lawmakers, regulators and activists over toxic content on their platforms. These platforms are said to have contributed to triggering or worsening eating disorders in young people or contributing to other psychological problems. Cyber ​​bullying is also a big issue in this context. Snap in particular has also been criticized for allowing teenagers to purchase drugs such as fentanyl. ( HERE ).

Child protection is politically explosive worldwide

In the United States, these issues also gained new relevance for platform operators after a former Facebook employee published internal documents showing that some teenagers appeared to feel worse after using Facebook products such as Instagram. In the US Congress, executives from Instagram, Snap, TikTok and YouTube were later questioned about whether social media was harming young people. In March, a group of state attorneys general called on Snap and TikTok to improve parental controls over their apps. There is increasing pressure on social networks to protect young, underage users. The Family Center, announced some time ago, is now Snap Chat's answer to this.

Other countries have also taken measures to protect young people from the effects of social media. In September, the UK introduced new child safety regulations, prompting platforms like Instagram to introduce their first parental controls. Instagram parental controls allow users to see and limit how much time their children spend on the app.

Snap has also been struggling with declining business recently. Last month, the company reported its slowest quarterly growth ever.

Previous youth protection measures on Snapchat

Snapchat has already taken the following measures to protect young people:

  • By default, teenagers must be friends with each other before they can communicate with each other.
  • The app requires users to be over 13 years old, and teens cannot change their birth year in the app until they are 18 years old. Of course, these are all measures that only take effect if young users log in with the correct data.
  • Friends lists are private and teenagers are not allowed to have public profiles.
  • There are also protection mechanisms that make it more difficult for strangers to find teenagers. For example, teenagers only appear as suggested friends or in search results in certain cases, such as when they have mutual friends.

What exactly can the Family Center do?

The Family Center aims to give parents better insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat and who they have communicated with, without revealing the content of those conversations. The privacy of young people with regard to the content of their conversations is also protected from their parents. In this way, the analogous principle is to be adopted that parents usually know who their teenagers are friends with and when and where they meet - but do not notice what exactly is being discussed between the teenagers. Another feature will also be added in the coming weeks that will allow parents to easily see what new friends their teens have added.

Another feature will also allow parents to easily and confidentially report any accounts that may be problematic directly to Snap's trust and safety teams, who will look after Snapchatters' safety 24/7. It will also provide parents and young people with new resources to help them have constructive and open conversations about online safety.

Cooperation with parents and experts

Snap says it worked with families to develop the Family Center to understand the needs of parents and teens, as everyone has different attitudes toward parenting and privacy. In addition, experts in online security and well-being were brought on board during the development. The goal is to develop a range of tools

“that reflect the dynamics of real-world relationships and promote cooperation and trust between parents and adolescents.”

Snap Inc. (HERE)

Snap Inc. presents the new Family Center in more detail in an explanatory video.

Snapchat presents the Family Center ( HERE )

More tools will be added in the fall. There will be new content controls for parents and the option for young people to notify their parents if they report an account or content. This is intended to give families greater influence over what content reaches young people individually, beyond the strictly curated and moderated content according to Snapchat.

The goal is to support parents and teenagers in such a way that the autonomy and privacy of teenagers is preserved. Snap Inc. provides further information in a parenting guide.

It remains to be seen whether the new tools really work and make Snapchat a safer place for young people, or whether the technical skills of young people, which are often superior to those of their parents, find ways to continue to use the platform unhindered by parental control. With all the consequences.

Also outside the USA from autumn

Parental Controls are available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It will be available in other countries starting this fall.

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