Snapchat is rolling out new parental controls that will let parents see their children’s contacts and secretly report to the social media company about any accounts linked to them. . A child lying on a bed illuminated by the light of a mobile phone.
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Snapchat is rolling out new parental controls that will let parents see their children’s contacts and secretly report to the social media company about any accounts linked to them. . A child lying on a bed illuminated by the light of a mobile phone.
Image of Elva Etienne / Getty
Snapchat is rolling out parental controls that will let parents see their kids’ contacts and report to the social media company – without their kids’ knowledge – any accounts that might be causing them concern .
The goal, executives say, is to allow parents to monitor their children’s connections without compromising a teen’s autonomy. Dubbed Family Center, the new toolkit released Tuesday requires both caregivers and youth to opt-in.
“It allows parents to see who’s in their teen’s universe,” said Nona Farahnik, director of platform policy for Snap, the company that makes Snapchat. “It gives parents the ability to ask who someone might be, how they might know a contact, which fosters real-time conversations about who teens are talking to. story.”
Farahnik says the Family Center is modeled on real-life parenting.
“If your kids are going to the mall, you can ask who they’re going with,” says Farahnik. How do you know them? “But you wouldn’t sit there at the mall with them listening to their conversations.”
Similarly, parents can’t see what their kids are sending or receiving on Snapchat. They can only see who their child has communicated with in the past seven days. Snapchat is popular with young people, partly because messages on the platform disappear within 24 hours.
The company said it consulted with safety experts and academics, and conducted focus groups with parents to develop the Family Hub and plans to roll out more features. in the coming months. This tool is intended only for parents with children under the age of 18.
With Family Center, Snap follows other social media platforms, including Instagram, which recently Enhanced parental control. By at least one surveySnapchat is the second most popular social network among teenagers. First, TikTok, which offers “Family Sharing,” gives parents several ways to limit the videos that are shown to their children.
An promotional demo of Snapchat’s new Family Center, shared by the company ahead of its rollout.
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An promotional demo of Snapchat’s new Family Center, shared by the company ahead of its rollout.
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Irene Ly, policy advisor for Common Sense Mediahome apps, games and media reviews.
Bipartisan Law in Congress would require more sweeping changes aimed at protecting children on social media, but lawmakers have yet to vote on the measures.
Supporter: Social networks should be ‘safer by design’ for kids
Josh Golin, CEO of Fair play, an advocacy group focused on improving children’s online safety. But they do require parents time, energy, and commitment to find social media tools and use them regularly.
“Are you going to spend 20 minutes a day figuring out what’s going on on Snap, another 20 on TikTok, and another 20 on Instagram?” he say. “I don’t think parents particularly want to spend their time this way. What they want to see is that these platforms take real steps to be safer by design.”
For example, says Golin, it’s easier for kids to put down their phones and take a break from social media.
“When you’re 12, you might be feeling, ‘Oh my, my life would be over if I didn’t communicate with my friends on Snapchat today,'” Golin said. “I don’t think we should give rewards and badges to children and things to use online platforms more. That discourages intentional, thoughtful use. I think that. promotes coercion and only benefits the company.”
Snap’s terms of use require children to state that they are 13 or older before signing up for the service. Snap said it screens underage users for compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
“We have millions of young people already using Snap, including millions under the age of 13 and shouldn’t have even been there in the first place,” said Golin.
He said companies could do a better job of verifying users’ ages, rather than belittling users.
Ly, of Common Sense, said companies could also look at how their algorithms amplify content that could be harmful to children.
For example, says Ly, a child might interact with a post that promotes healthy eating for an exercise routine. But algorithms designed to show users more of what they like can quickly lead that child into a hole of misinformation about disordered eating or other harmful eating habits.
