Snap rolls out granular screen time tracking in Family Center update
Snapchat has introduced new parental controls, allowing parents and guardians to monitor teen screen time and new friend connections, two days after settling a lawsuit alleging the platform caused social media addiction and mental health issues for a 19-year-old.
The update to Snapchat’s Family Center tool enables parents to view the average daily time their teen spent on the platform over the previous week. It also details time distribution across features like chatting, snapping, camera use, Snap Map, and content viewing on Spotlight and Stories.
Regarding social connections, parents can now see how their teen likely knows a newly added user, including mutual friends, saved contacts, or shared communities. Previously, the Family Center displayed only a full list of a teen’s friends.
“These trust signals make it easier for parents to understand new connections and have greater confidence that their teen is chatting with someone they know in real life,” Snap said in a blog post. “If a parent or guardian sees a new friend they aren’t familiar with, they have the information they need to start a productive conversation.”
Snap initially launched Family Center in 2022 to address regulatory concerns regarding minor safety on its app. Since its inception, the suite of parental monitoring tools has expanded to include features such as interaction histories, time restrictions, and blocking access to the My AI chatbot.
The new features follow Snap’s settlement of a lawsuit filed by K.G.M., who alleged that Snap and other social media companies developed algorithms and features that fostered addiction and adversely affected user mental health. While other platforms including Meta, YouTube, and TikTok are also named in the ongoing litigation, no settlements have been reached with these companies, and jury selection for the remaining case is scheduled to begin.
Snap remains a defendant in other social media addiction lawsuits. Court documents from ongoing cases indicate that Snap employees raised concerns about teen mental health risks as early as nine years ago. The company has characterized these examples as “cherry-picked” and taken out of context.