Snap launches tools for parents to monitor their child

The Snapchat Family Center feature is launching in a period where social media companies have been criticized for the absence of protections for children

Snap Inc, owner of the popular messaging app Snapchat has released their first tool for controlling parental behavior on Tuesday that will let parents observe who their kids are communicating with but not the nature of their conversations.

The new feature , called Family Center is launching at an era when the social networks have come under criticized due to their inability to protect youngsters. The month of October saw Snap along with its technological competitors TikTok and YouTube presented evidence to U.S. lawmakers accusing the companies of exposing their users to harassment or directing them towards dangerous content.

Instagram was also a witness at an Senate session in the month of December about the safety of children online, following an Facebook whistleblower revealed internal documents she claimed revealed that the app had harmed a few teens' mental health as well as body image.

Parents are able to invite their kids to join the Family Center on Snapchat, and when the teens have given their consent they can view their children's friends list as well as who they've messaged via the app in the last seven days. They are also able to report confidentially any suspicious accounts.

However, parents won't be able to view private messages or private content that are that are sent to or from their kids, as stated by Jeremy Voss, Snap's head of messaging products on a podcast interview.

"It strikes the right approach for enhancing safety and well-being, while still protecting autonomy and privacy," said the researcher. declared.

Snap announced that it will add additional features over the next few months, such as notification to parents whenever their child reports abuse by an individual.

In the past, prior to Family Center, Snap already had policies to protect teens in place. The default settings for profiles of Snapchat users younger than 18 are not public, and are only displayed as an option in search results if they are friends with other users. Users must be 13 years old in order to join the app.

Snap's new tools are the same model of Instagram that launched their Family Center in March, which allows parents to see the accounts their kids use and how long they spend using the app.