Snap Inc, the parent company of messaging platform Snapchat, released a set of tools for parents on August 9. Basically, it can help parents monitor the people their teenage children interact with. Content of messages. The update, called Family Hub, comes at a time when various similar sites are facing criticism for being less safe for younger users. Last fall, Snap Inc. along with other tech giants YouTube and TikTok testified before US lawmakers. They accused the tech giants of bullying younger users or exposing them to harmful substances.
In addition, Instagram Meta testified last December at a Senate hearing on children’s online safety. A Facebook whistleblower has revealed internal documents that show social media use can harm the mental health and body image of some teenagers who use the sites.
Parents can reportedly ask their kids to join Snapchat’s Family Hub. With their consent, supervisors can see a teen’s friends list, as well as information about who has messaging on the app in the previous week. Plus, they can confidently report any suspicious accounts. On the other hand, they have no concessions to view any unique content or details of texts in conversations between the sender and the receiver. This is stated in the last interview with Jeremy Won, Snappin News. Noting that this not only highlights the right step to improve “safety” and health but also guarantees the right to privacy.
The company also announced plans to introduce more features in the next few months, including notifying guardians when their children report any abuse. Previously, existing SNAP policies for the protection of minors contained some standard rules. These are personal profiles of small users that only appear in recommendations when someone searches for them if they have mutual friends. In addition, the minimum age to participate in the program is 13 years. It’s clear that this upcoming Snap tool is somewhat similar to Instagram’s Family Center, which was launched about five months ago. This allows parents to see which pages their children follow and how much time they spend on them.