Snapchat Rolls Out Safety Features to Protect Teens from Unwanted Contacts

With the increasing rate of sextortion, scams, and other cybercrimes, Snapchat has begun rolling out new safety features aimed at protecting teens from such risks.

These features are designed to make it harder for strangers to contact young users. Now, if a teen receives a message from someone who isn’t a mutual friend or isn't in their contacts, Snapchat will display a warning. These alerts also appear if the message comes from someone who has been reported on or is from an area known for scams.

Also, friend requests will be filtered to prevent unsolicited connections from accounts that don't share mutual friends and are linked to scam-prone regions. For those persistent enough to create new accounts after being blocked, Snapchat has made its blocking tools even more rigid, any new accounts made on that same device will also be automatically blocked.

The location-sharing controls on the app have been updated as well. Users will receive more frequent reminders about their location settings, making it easier to manage who can see where they are.

Snapchat has since been releasing features to ensure proper safety measures, such as the Family Center, which allows parents to supervise their teens’ activities, and content moderation tools to remove inappropriate content.

The latest safety feature is expected to protect teens from 'sextortion' and unwanted contact.