A renewed emphasis on teen safety has led Snapchat to roll out enhanced parental controls within its Family Center tool. The update allows parents and guardians to better understand how their teens use the platform and how they form new connections. The move comes just 2 days after Snap settled a lawsuit that accused the company of contributing to social media addiction and mental health issues.
The latest update introduces detailed screen time insights for parents. Family Center will now show the average daily time a teen spends on Snapchat over a 7-day period. It also breaks down usage across different areas of the app, including chatting, snapping, camera-based creation, Snap Map, and content consumption on Spotlight and Stories.
Snapchat has also expanded its friend monitoring feature. While Family Center already provided parents with a full list of their teen’s friends, it will now show how a new friend was added. This includes whether the connection came through mutual friends, saved contacts, or shared communities.
According to Snap, these added “trust signals” are designed to help parents better understand their teen’s new connections. The company said the feature aims to give families more confidence that teens are interacting with people they are likely to know in real life.
Family Center was first launched in 2022 in response to growing regulatory pressure on social media platforms over child safety. Since its launch, Snap has gradually expanded the tool with added features such as viewing recent interactions, setting screen time limits, and blocking access to the My AI chatbot.
The timing of the new update is notable. It follows Snap’s recent settlement of a lawsuit filed by a 19-year-old user, who alleged that the platform’s design and algorithms promoted addictive behaviour and negatively affected mental health. The company has not disclosed settlement details but continues to highlight its efforts to improve safety and transparency for younger users.
With these additions, Snap is positioning Family Center as a more comprehensive parental oversight tool. The company says the latest changes are meant to support open conversations between parents and teens while encouraging safer and more responsible platform use.
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