Snap has announced new parental control features on Snapchat, days after settling a lawsuit that accused the company of contributing to social media addiction and mental health harm among young users.
The new tools expand Snapchat’s Family Center feature, allowing parents and guardians to view how much time their teens spend on the app, including a breakdown of activity across features such as messaging, camera use, Snap Map, and content viewing on Stories and Spotlight.
Parents can now see the average amount of time their teen spends on Snapchat each day over the previous week. The update also provides additional context about new friends added by teens, including whether they share mutual friends, are saved as contacts, or belong to the same communities.
Snap said the new indicators are designed to help parents better understand their teens’ connections and encourage informed conversations about online interactions. Family Center, first launched in 2022, already allowed parents to view a list of their teen’s friends and recent interactions, set time limits, and restrict access to Snapchat’s AI chatbot.
The update follows Snap’s recent settlement of a lawsuit filed by a 19-year-old who accused the company of designing addictive features that harmed users’ mental health. Similar cases involving Meta, TikTok, and YouTube are still ongoing, with jury selection expected to begin soon.
Snap remains a defendant in other lawsuits related to social media addiction. The company has previously said internal documents cited in court filings were taken out of context.
