How parents can help keep their kids safe on Snapchat

Children on the net

Here’s what parents need to know about Snapchat and why it’s worth taking the time to make sure your kids are safe when using the app

September 24, 2024
•
,
5 min reading

Snapchat can only be 10^t the world’s most popular social media platform, but estimates that there are more than 750 million monthly active users. The platform is incredibly popular, especially among kids and teens, and its features like disappearing messages, stories, and augmented reality (AR) filters keep kids coming back for more. In fact, many of them have been copied by bigger rivals, with the latest addition being an AI chatbot called “MyAI.”

But the flip side of any social media discussion is online privacy and security. It’s worth taking the time to understand the potential risks and familiarizing yourself with the many features within the app itself that are designed to increase the safety of more vulnerable users.

Snapchat and Data

Snapchat prides itself on privacy. After all, a key differentiator for the app for many years was that “snaps”—photos or videos with captions—disappear after the recipient has viewed them (more on that later).

But it’s also true that, as detailed in this report, the app collects a range of personally identifiable information (PII), location data, and biometrics from users and shares it with third parties for analytics, product improvement, and marketing purposes. Snapchat may also collect information about your activities on other services that use its cookies to improve advertising.

There are also some concerns about the MyAI chatbot, as raised by the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The app apparently uses the context of a MyAI user’s conversation at the time, as well as their age and general location, to serve targeted ads.

What are the main risks to children from Snapchat?

While disappearing messages can improve privacy by literally removing content from the app, they can also cause additional problems. For starters, concerned parents will have a hard time keeping track of what their kids are doing and sharing if messages disappear after being viewed.

The psychology behind the feature could also encourage more reckless photo sharing, lulling kids into a false sense of security and making them believe their photos will disappear without consequence. That could play into the hands of cyberbullies and adults who use the app for nefarious purposes. (Muddying the waters even more, some Snapchat employees reportedly had access to these Snaps in the past and misused them to spy on users.)

Here are some other concerns parents may have about Snapchat:

• Cyberbullying: It’s a problem on every social media site, just as it is in the real world. Sadly, fewer than a quarter (23%) of high school cyberbullying victims report the abuse to an adult. And disappearing messages make it even less likely that they’ll notify a parent or teacher.
• Inappropriate content: According to Snapchat, Stories and Spotlight content are moderated, but “some posts may contain images or captions that do not clearly violate our Community Guidelines but contain sensitive or suggestive content.” Individual Snaps may also contain images or videos that you would rather your child not be exposed to. The risk is likely greater with the MyAI app, which may not understand what constitutes “inappropriate.”
• Bait and Sex Blackmail: Sadly, there will always be a small minority on social media who aren’t there to interact with friends and family, but instead pray for the more vulnerable members of society. Adult strangers could theoretically send Snaps or messages to children, and the platform’s Snap Map feature allows children to share their location. A 2023 report found that a whopping 26 per cent of grooming offences recorded by UK police took place on Snapchat. The platform has recently introduced a range of new features aimed at protecting children on the site.
• Snapstreak Challenges and Series: Kids love to play and compete. And on Snapchat, there are plenty of opportunities to do just that. When users share Snaps for two consecutive days, the app will track their “streak” and delete the messages after 24 hours of inactivity. This can encourage addictive behavior or oversharing of personal information. A 2023 study claims that frequent Snapchat use is linked to FOMO, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

Stay safe on Snapchat

Children don’t like to be lectured, especially by a parent who may not even fully understand the apps they’re using. So, familiarize yourself with Snapchat and have an honest conversation about your concerns. Set rules and boundaries for how they use the platform and who they should and shouldn’t add as friends on the platform. Hopefully, that mutual trust will lead to an understanding that they’ll tell you if they get a friend request from someone they don’t know.

Here are some other tips to keep your kids safe and happy when using the app:

• Sharing best practices for using social media in a way that doesn’t negatively impact mental health
• Make sure they register with the correct age so the correct settings are applied by default
• Discuss what you can and can’t share on the app, including personal information and appropriate content
• Explore Snapchat’s safety features together. They include:
  • In-app warnings that let teens know when they receive messages from people they don’t have mutual friends or contacts with
  • Improved blocking to prevent cyberbullying
  • Ghost mode that prevents others from seeing your child’s location
  • Default chat features that prevent your child from sending messages to anyone on the platform unless they are friends
  • Reporting other users (press and hold the Snapchat ID, select “More” and “Report”)
  • Various privacy settings to limit who can see and contact your child’s profile
• Visit the platform’s Family Center to learn about a range of tools and resources that should give you an overview of your child’s Snapchat activity. These tools will also allow you to report any concerns to the app’s Trust and Safety team.
• Create a Snapchat account and link it to your child’s account to see who they’re friends with and who they’ve interacted with in the past week (but you won’t see the content of the messages).

Parents in the 2020s can no longer afford to ignore what their children are doing online. Getting involved is the best way to keep them safe.