Snap has launched Family Center, a new in-app tool in Singapore that provides parents with more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat. It also shows who they have been communicating with, without revealing any substance of those conversations.

Family Center mirrors how parents engage with their teens in the real world, where parents usually know who their teens are friends with and when they are hanging out—but don’t eavesdrop on their private conversations. Family Center’s goal is to help empower parents and teens to have conversations about online safety in a way that still protects teenagers’ autonomy and privacy.

Parents can also easily and confidentially report any suspicious accounts directly on Family Center to our Trust and Safety team that works around the clock to help keep Snapchatters safe.

“Snapchat is a central communications tool for young people, and as our community continues to grow, we know parents and caregivers want additional ways to help keep their teens safe. Our new in-app Family Center tool will help parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, helping foster positive conversations about online safety within families, while respecting the privacy and autonomy of teens. ” said Henry Turnbull, Head of Public Policy- APAC, Snap Inc.

In addition to Family Center, Snap hasexisting protections to keep young people safe. For example, on Snapchat:

• By default, teens have to be mutual friends before they can start communicating with each other.
• Friend lists are private, and we don’t allow teens to have public profiles.
• And we have protections in place to make it harder for strangers to find teens. For example, teens only show up as a “suggested friend” or in search results in limited instances, like if they have mutual friends in common.

Over the coming months, Snapchat plans on adding additional features to Family Center, including new content controls for parents and the ability for teens to notify their parents when they report an account or a piece of content. While Snapchat closely moderate and curates both the content and entertainment platforms, the app doesn’t allow unvetted content to reach a large audience on Snapchat, we know each family has different views on what content is appropriate for their teens and want to give them the option to make those personal decisions.

We look forward to continuing to work closely with families and online safety experts to keep improving Family Center over time. To learn more about Family Center and about how we’re working to keep teens safe on Snapchat, check our Parent’s Guide to Snapchat.