Snapchat is adding some new safety measures to make its platform a safer place for teens.
Among other additions, the company is adding new warnings on potentially suspicious contacts, improved mitigation measures to stop accounts from sharing age-inappropriate content, and new resources for both parents and users to help fight in-app risks.
Warning Labels
Snap is adding some new warning labels to accounts that seek to connect with teens that they are not familiar with. When a user who has not had previous contact with a teen tries to connect on Snapchat, a pop-up alerting him that the person is a stranger shows up.
Strike System
Snapchat has also implemented a new strike system for accounts that promote inappropriate content to teenagers. Stiffer penalties will now be implemented for those who fail to adhere to Snap’s rules. With this, it has become riskier for such profiles to promote inappropriate content on the platform.
“Under this system, we immediately remove inappropriate content that we proactively detect or that gets reported to us. If we see that an account is repeatedly trying to circumvent our rules, we will ban it.”
Explainer for Parents
Snapchat is also implementing a couple of new explainers for both parents and teens. The essence of this is to highlight the risks of online connections.
The new explainer, among other things, will include written guides and links to external resources for extra assistance.
In April, research by the media regulator Ofcom revealed that the number of children using TikTok and Snapchat rose in 2022 in Britain. According to Reuters, the report showed that around half of those aged between 3 and 17 use both apps. The figure was collected as part of Ofcom’s annual survey of children’s and parents’ online attitudes.
The study found a slight increase in TikTok’s and Snapchat’s popularity in 2022, with TikTok now being used by 53 percent of children [up from 50 percent] and Snapchat by 46 percent [up from 42 percent].
“Children of all ages reported choosing to watch ‘dramatic’ content in various forms when selecting TV shows and films to watch,” the report said, per Reuters.
For Snapchat, the Ofcom reports found the proportion of 3- and 4-year-olds using Snapchat had risen to 17 percent in 2022, up from 12 percent in 2022.
