Snapchat now allows parents to limit minors’ interactions with the AI chatbot My AI, the platform introduced new parental controls enabling parents to restrict minors’ engagement with the AI chatbot.
These changes also allow parents to view minors’ privacy settings and provide easy access to the Family Center, a dedicated space for parental oversight, parents can now prevent My AI from responding to minors’ conversations.
The new parental control features arrive as Snapchat’s My AI nears its one-year launch anniversary, the platform faced criticism for releasing the AI chatbot without suitable age restrictions, as My AI was found to engage minors in controversial topics.
Snapchat stated that the new restriction feature builds on the existing barriers of the AI chatbot, including protection against inappropriate or harmful responses and temporary usage restrictions for users who repeatedly misuse the service.
Parents can now view safety and privacy settings, determining whether minors can share their stories with friends or a select group of users, alongside viewing contact settings to know who can reach the minor through the app.
Parents can also ascertain if minors are sharing their location with friends via Snapchat’s map feature, the platform has made it easier to access the Family Center, now directly available from the account or through the settings.
Snapchat commented, “We designed Snapchat to help people connect with friends as they do offline, and the Family Center reflects real-life parent-minor relationship dynamics, giving parents insight into who the minor spends time with while respecting the privacy of personal communications.”
Further, the platform added, “We worked closely with families and online safety experts to develop the Family Center, using their feedback to regularly update it with additional features.”
Snapchat launched the Family Center in 2022 in response to growing pressure on social networks to exert more effort in protecting young users from harm on the platforms.
The expansion of parental controls comes as the company’s CEO, Evan Spiegel, is set to testify before the Senate on child safety on January 31, alongside the CEOs of platforms X, TikTok, Meta, and Discord.
