Snap Inc. is announcing a new package of safeguards to further protect 13-17 year old Snapchatters from potential online risks.
Snap is also releasing new resources for families, including an updated parents guide at parents.snapchat.com that covers the platform’s protections for teens and tools for parents, and a new YouTube explainer series.
Tony Keusgen, MD Australia and New Zealand, at Snap Inc., said: “Snapchat is designed to be different to other apps and safety is at the heart of what we do.
“Our focus is on giving Aussies a fun place to communicate with real life connections and that’s why we’ve always had extra protections for teens. But we know there is no finish line when it comes to keeping our community safe.”
Professor Amanda Third, co-director at the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University commented: “When talking about anything in the online space, safety is of huge importance.
“Through my work, I know the importance of education, not only for young people themselves but also for parents and other caregivers. So I’d encourage families to try to learn as much as they can about the apps and technologies that are important to their teens”.
The new safeguards announced include:
Safer Contact
Snapchat will begin to rolling out additional protections for 13-17 year olds, designed to further limit unwanted interactions or potentially risky contact, including:
• In-App Warnings: Snapchat is launching a new feature that sends a pop-up warning to a teen if they are contacted by someone they don’t share mutual friends with.
• Stronger Friending Protections: The platform is raising their bar to require a greater number of friends in common based on the number of friends a Snapchatter has – with the goal of further reducing the ability for teens and strangers to connect.
New Strike System to Crack Down on Accounts Promoting Age-Inappropriate Content
While Snapchat is most commonly used for communicating with friends, the app offers two content platforms – Stories and Spotlight – where Snapchatters can find public Stories published by vetted media organisations, verified creators, and Snapchatters. On these public content platforms, additional content moderation is applied to prevent violating content from reaching a large audience.
See also: Snapchat launches new Ad Products at IAB NewFronts 2023
To help remove accounts that market and promote age inappropriate content, Snapchat recently launched a new Strike System.
Education About Common Online Risks
In recent years and, especially with online communications becoming more prevalent during the pandemic, young people have become more vulnerable to a range of sexual risks like catfishing, financial sextortion, taking and sharing nude images, and more.
Snapchat is releasing new in-app content that helps explain these risks and shares important resources for Snapchatters, such as hotlines to contact for help. This content will be featured on the Stories platform, and surfaced to Snapchatters by relevant Search terms or keywords.