Is Snapchat Safe? A Snapchat App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

The potential for encountering harmful content on Snapchat is extremely high. The app’s disappearing message feature serves as a temptation to send photos and texts that are risky, since they’ll be gone in a matter of seconds. Snapchat has long been known as the “nudes” app, though that’s not its only use. Snapchat users can send photos and videos of anything they do, and so possible content spans nearly anything you can think of. 

Prominent examples of harmful content are: messages about drug sales; bullying exchanges; excessive profanity and vulgar language; and even videos or photos of self-harm. 

Even though Snapchat relies on the “disappearing” nature of their messages, nothing is ever truly gone. It’s easy to take screenshots of Snaps, or open them while watching with someone else next to you. You can even take a photo of a Snap with another phone. In this way, Snapchat is dangerous because messages that a user thinks are completely private can be shared with others in a matter of seconds. 

Snapchat also has a Discover section that offers ever-changing content that users can interact with. These range from brand advertisements and online publications to posts from some of Snapchat’s more popular users. And like so much of the rest of the internet, the content in the Discover section relies on clicks to keep it at the top. This means the content that makes it here tends to be attention-grabbing, and it often revolves around sex.

Predation 🚨

Is Snapchat safe for kids in terms of predation? Predators can often be found where kids are — and a lot of kids are on Snapchat. It’s very easy to add friends on the Snapchat app, so your child can accumulate a lot of strangers on their friends list if privacy filters aren’t turned on (more on that below).

Predators often pretend to be younger and will pose as a friend of a friend, complete with a fake profile and back story. Once a predator begins grooming a child, they’ll take advantage of the disappearing messages and photos to avoid a digital trail of evidence.

Snapchat’s Snap Map feature also contributes to predation on the platform. Snap Map lets people see where their friends are on a digital map, and the Our Story feature allows users to contribute to a public feed that shows events happening across the world in real-time. Together, these two features allow users to communicate directly within the map if they happen to be close to each other. Users don’t have to know each other to communicate — anyone can talk to anyone here unless privacy settings are locked down.

Privacy 🔒

By adjusting a few settings, you can drastically increase the level of privacy your child has on Snapchat. By enabling Ghost Mode, your child’s location won’t be shared on their Snap Map. 

You can also manage who can message your child as well as who can view their stories. Keeping everything “Friends Only” is a good idea for almost any user — this will help keep out potentially predatory strangers.

Parental Controls ✅

Family Center is Snapchat’s internal parental control system. When you create an account for yourself, you can link it to your child’s account so you can:

• See who your child has sent Snaps or chats to in the past week
• Limit sensitive content in Stories and Spotlight
• View all their friends
• Request location check-ins
• Receive updates when child arrives/leaves preset locations (parents can choose up to three).

There are two huge issues with Family Center, however: Your kid has to accept your supervision (and can also unilaterally turn it off at any time) and you can’t see of the actual content or photos your kid sees. Snapchat in September 2023 announced even more safeguards for its teen users. These features include in-app warnings about chatting with strangers, stronger protections for adding unknown friends, and in-app safety tips.

How to Set Up Family Center

1. Download Snapchat on your phone and create an account.
2. Once you’re set up, tap your profile icon in the top left corner of the home screen.
3. Then, tap the settings/gear icon in the top right corner.
4. Scroll down until you see Privacy Controls, and tap Family Center.
5. Send an invite to your kid.
6. Wait for your kid to accept the invite.
7. Once they do, when you tap Family Center, you’ll be able to see their friends, view who they’ve chatted with, and restrict sensitive content, if you want.

Bark also provides help with managing Snapchat. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to:

• Block Snapchat entirely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use Snapchat throughout the day.
• Monitor DMs (text only), searches, and MyAI queries on Android devices and the Bark Phone.

We’re continually advocating and working for Snapchat to allow iOS monitoring.

So, should my kid download it?

This is one platform we’d suggest avoiding, if possible. If you have a strong, open relationship with your child and have had regular conversations about online safety, you may feel comfortable letting them join. Just be aware of the potential risks — check out our full Snapchat parental control tech guide for more steps you can take to help protect your kid if they use it.