Snapchat’s new feature lets parents see who their children are messaging
The opt-in tool will require a parent and child’s Snapchat accounts to be friends
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Your support makes all the difference.Snapchat has announced a new tool so parents can see who their child is talking to.
The Family Centre will show parents their children’s friend list and who is communicating with them, but not what is being sent.
The opt-in tool will require a parent and child’s Snapchat accounts to be friends in order to connect and set up Family Centre.
Parents will then be able to confidentially report any accounts connected with their child that they have concerns about.
"Family Centre is designed to reflect the way that parents engage with their teens in the real world, where parents usually know who their teens are friends with and when they are hanging out - but don’t eavesdrop on their private conversations," Snapchat said in a blog post announcing the tool.
"To help develop Family Centre, we worked with families to understand the needs of both parents and teens, knowing that everyone’s approach to parenting and privacy is different.
"We also consulted with experts in online safety and wellbeing to incorporate their feedback and insights. Our goal was to create a set of tools designed to reflect the dynamics of real-world relationships and foster collaboration and trust between parents and teens."
Snapchat also confirmed that it was publishing a new range of resources to help parents and children have open conservations about online safety, and that it would continue to add more features to Family Centre over the coming months, including new content control tools for parents.
“Our goal is to help empower parents and teens in a way that still protects a teenager’s autonomy and privacy. We look forward to continuing to work closely with families and online safety experts to keep improving Family Centre over time,” Snapchat’s blog post said.
Other social media companies such as Instagram have also been releasing more parental controls.
Parents can oversee their child’s profile, set daily use limits and see who they follow and who follows them.
Additional reporting by PA