Snapchat now lets parents monitor teen's screen time, friends
What's the story
Snapchat has introduced new parental controls in its "Family Center" tool. The feature will let parents and guardians see how much time their teens spend on the platform, as well as details about any new friends they add. The move comes just two days after Snap settled a lawsuit accusing it of contributing to social media addiction and mental health issues.
Enhanced safety
New features aim to enhance user safety
The new features in Snapchat's Family Center tool will show parents the average daily time their teen spends on the platform over a week. This includes how this time is divided across different sections of the app such as chatting, snapping, creating with the camera, using Snap Map or consuming content on Spotlight and Stories.
Friend tracking
Family Center's friend tracking feature explained
The Family Center tool already gave parents a complete list of their teen's friends on Snapchat. Now, it also shows how a new user was added as a friend. This could be through mutual friends, being saved as a contact or belonging to shared communities. Snap said these "trust signals" help parents understand new connections better and have more confidence that their teen is chatting with someone they know in real life.
Tool development
Evolution and lawsuit settlement
Launched in 2022, the Family Center tool was developed as a response to regulatory pressure over social media companies' failure to protect minors. Since then, Snap has expanded the tool with more features like recent interactions view, time limits setting, and blocking access to My AI chatbot. The new features come after Snap settled a lawsuit filed by a 19-year-old who accused it of designing algorithms that fueled addiction and harmed users' mental health.