Snapchat Expand their In-App Parental Tools

At Snap, we’re committed to giving parents additional tools and resources to help them support their teens’ safe use of Snapchat. 

In 2022, we launched Family Center, our set of parental tools that allows parents to see who teens are talking to on Snapchat, confidentially report any concerns, and set content controls – all of which can help prompt important conversations about safety. Just as Snapchat was built to help people communicate with their friends in the same way they would in real life, Family Center reflects the dynamics of real-world relationships between parents and teens, where parents have insight into who their teens are spending time with, while still respecting teens’ privacy. 

Now, we’re introducing expanded Family Center features to give parents even more visibility into their teens’ activity on Snapchat, and further empower them to have productive conversations about online safety. In the coming weeks, we’re rolling out: 

Visibility into their Teens’ Settings: Parents will now be able to see their teens’ safety and privacy settings, many of which are set to the strictest standards by default. Specifically, parents will be able to view: 

·       Their teens’ story settings: Teens have the ability to share their story with their full list of friends, or choose a smaller group of close friends and family. 

·       Their teens’ contact settings: Snapchatters can only be contacted by people they are already friends with, or their friends plus existing phone contacts. 

·       If their teen is sharing their location with friends on the Snap Map: The Snap Map allows Snapchatters to see where their friends are and what they’re up to, discover interesting places, and view content submitted by Snapchatters around the world. Snapchatters must opt in to share their location – and only have the option to use this feature with people they are already friends with. 

Parental Controls for AI: Parents will now be able to restrict the ability for My AI, our AI-powered chatbot, to respond to chats from their teen. This feature builds on the safeguards already built into My AI, including protections against inappropriate or harmful responses, temporary usage restrictions if Snapchatters repeatedly misuse the service, and age consideration by default. 

Easy Access to Family Center: For parents who may be unfamiliar with Snapchat, we’re making Family Center easier to find. Now, parents can access Family Center right from their profile by tapping their Bitmoji Icon from the camera, searching relevant terms such as “safety,” “family,” or “parent,” and Family Center will appear, or by heading to settings, located in the top-right corner of the parent’s profile. Our goal is to help both parents and teens who may be new to Snapchat find and join Family Center with ease. 

We worked closely with families and online safety experts to develop Family Center, and their expertise, insights and feedback directly informed the features announced today. We look forward to furthering those collaborations and continuing to make Snapchat a fun and safe environment for our entire community.