The Snapchat app came onto the market and into the hands of teenagers in 2011 and continues to be as popular with young people to this day. With its instant picture messaging format, it is an easy-to-use app for making instant connections with friends, speaking on group chats and sharing videos easily.
But, like any social media app, teenagers must use the app safely. After all, photos can be sent and received within seconds. The app has a 13+ age rating but there are still safeguards you should put in place to protect any teenager.
Snapchat's senior manager of trust and safety, Hazel Baker, tells HELLO! how to protect your teen.
What are the benefits for teens of using your app?
Snapchat is a place where our community - especially teens - come to connect with friends and family. For younger users, it’s often their main messaging app and where they chat with friends, make plans, catch highlights from their favourite shows, follow their favourite creators and express themselves using our AR lenses. Snapchat was created to be an antidote to traditional social media - there’s no unvetted feed of content (all the content in our Stories and Spotlight tabs is moderated) and there are no public likes and comments, removing pressure to be perfect. Profiles and friend lists for under 18s are private and you have to be friends with someone before they can message you on the app.
What are the top three things that parents can do to keep their teens safe on Snapchat?
Explore the app yourself: Firstly we think it’s a great idea to explore how the app works, as it may help you better understand how your teen is using it. Our parent website, parents.snapchat.com, gives parents a guided tour of the app, takes you through how each section works and includes details on our safety tools.
Use our parental controls: Family Centre lets parents see who their teens are friends with and how often they’re talking to them, without seeing the contents of teens’ messages. We like to think of it a bit like your teen having their friends round at your house, and you asking them to leave the bedroom door ajar - you’re not sitting in the room with them but you know who is there and who they’re speaking with. Family Centre also comes with Content Controls which is a helpful tool for parents to limit the type of content their teens can watch on the app.
Open communication: Have an open and honest conversation with your teens about online safety so they know you have their back. Encourage them to share any concerns, questions, or encounters they may have and let them know they can come to you if they have a problem. By fostering a trusting relationship and being as non-judgemental as possible, they'll be more likely to come to you for guidance if they encounter anything troubling.
How does Snapchat handle cyberbullying? How can parents and teens report this if they see it?
Bullying can have devastating consequences both online and offline, and there is no place for it on Snapchat. If we find this type of content, we remove it straight away and we encourage any Snapchatters or parents who become aware of this behaviour to report it immediately using our confidential, easy in-app reporting tools so we can take action. We work with charity partners on anti-bullying initiatives, including the Diana Award 'Don't Face It Alone' campaign, to support teens who may be experiencing bullying.
What daily screen time or limit does Snapchat recommend for teens on their app, in terms of keeping healthy mentally?
We all know teens don’t like to be told what to do, but we think agreeing on guidelines for internet, social media usage and screen time is important. Ensure they feel part of the decision-making process by asking what they think is appropriate and coming to a fair compromise.
Having well-defined boundaries can help teenagers balance online activities with other aspects of their lives, fostering a healthy relationship with technology.
The online safety bill has been passed asking tech platforms to verify ages of young people and to remove harmful content. How is Snapchat working on this? What changes will we see and when?
Snapchat is for over 13s and we are committed to ensuring the content on our app is both safe and age-appropriate. We take a number of steps to address this, including blocking under 13s from accessing the app at the point of sign-up and detecting and removing under 13s if we become aware they are on the platform.
This is an industry-wide challenge that everyone is trying to solve and we are exploring options for possible additional solutions. For parents, if your teen is going to join Snapchat, we would also recommend setting up their new profile together.
What should a parent or teen do if they come across harmful content on Snapchat?
If you or your teen comes across any content that’s harmful or inappropriate, please report it to us immediately using our confidential, quick and easy-to-use in-app reporting tools so we can take action. Our team of moderators works 24/7 to review reports.
How is online grooming being prevented and tackled on your app?
We have a number of extra protections built into the app for younger users to prevent them from being contacted by people they don’t know. Profiles and friends lists are private and you have to be mutual friends with someone before they can start messaging you. We also recently introduced a pop-up warning for teens if someone adds them on Snapchat and they don’t have any mutual friends, to check that they know the person.
Family Centre also alerts parents if their teens add a new friend on Snapchat, and allows them to see how often they’re speaking with someone. We also have an in-app educational channel called Safety Snapshot to advise Snapchatters on how to stay safe online.
DISCOVER: Help keep our kids safe online - find out what we need to do