Snapchat disables 'Find Friends' feature for children in UK
What's the story
Snapchat has started disabling its "Find Friends" feature by default for child users in the UK. The move comes as part of efforts to reduce the risk of online grooming, according to British media regulator Ofcom. The change is expected to make it more difficult for strangers to contact children on the popular image-sharing social media platform.
Regulatory approval
'Long overdue' decision
Oliver Griffiths, the director of Ofcom's Online Safety Group, called Snapchat's decision "long overdue."
He said the regulator would be monitoring the rollout of this new protection throughout November.
Griffiths also noted that despite a minimum age limit of 13 on Snapchat, 32% of children aged between eight and 12 in Britain are using it.
Information
Age checks for under-18s by year-end
Back in May, Snapchat had promised to implement this change. The platform also recently told Ofcom that effective age checks for users under 18 should be in place by the end of this year. However, Snapchat has yet to comment on these developments.
Grooming risks
Online grooming concerns on social media
Concerns over online grooming on social media have been around for a while.
A 2025 analysis of British police data by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children revealed that 40% of recorded offenses involving sexual communication with a child (where the platform was identified) occurred on Snapchat.
Ofcom has urged major tech firms to implement stronger anti-grooming measures, stressing that online grooming can have "devastating, lifelong consequences" for children.