Snap Inc. has unveiled a series of new features aimed at safeguarding the online experiences of 13-17-year-olds on Snapchat. These enhancements, set to roll out in the coming weeks, the social media platform says, have been designed to achieve three primary objectives: 1) shield teenagers from unsolicited contact by unfamiliar individuals; 2) curate age-appropriate content on the platform; and 3) bolster the removal of accounts that may be attempting to promote age-inappropriate material through the introduction of a new strike system and advanced detection technologies.
Enhancing Safe Contact
To ensure that teens interact exclusively with those they know in real life, such as friends, family members, or trusted individuals, Snap introduces enhancements:
In-App Warnings: It is a new feature that triggers a pop-up warning when someone attempts to add a teen as a friend without shared mutual contacts or an existing contact in their phone book. This warning encourages teens to consider whether they want to engage with this person and advises against connecting if they don’t trust them.
Stronger Friending Protections: Snap introduces a new feature raising the bar for 13-to-17-year-olds by requiring a greater number of mutual friends before they can appear in search results. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of teens connecting with individuals who are not already part of their friend network, Snap said in a statement.
New Strike System for Age-Inappropriate Content Promotion
To combat the promotion of age-inappropriate content through public content platforms, Snapchat has introduced a new Strike System. Under this system, inappropriate content that is proactively detected or reported is promptly removed. Accounts that repeatedly attempt to bypass the rules will face bans.
Speaking on the new features, Uthara Ganesh, Head Public Policy-South Asia, Snap Inc. said, “Our latest features are thoughtful in-app features that are designed to empower teens to make smarter choices, and talk openly about staying safe online.”
