Unspecified location – October 19, 2026 -- Parents who link to their child through Snapchat's new Family Center can see the child's friend list and who they messaged in the past seven days, but the Organization for Social Media Safety says the tool will not meaningfully improve child safety.
The tool shows contacts, not conversations
Snap, Inc. announced Family Center this month. Parents must first request permission from their child. Snap confirmed that the tool gives parents no insight into "the substance of those conversations."
Four criticisms from the safety watchdog
First, the group says teens intent on risky activity can simply use a second, secret account, which Family Center cannot monitor. Snap responded that people with multiple accounts must fully log out to switch between them. In the group's test, switching took about four seconds, the same time it took to reach Family Center from the home screen.
Second, the group calls the tool redundant, because parents could already see a child's friend list by reviewing the child's account directly. Family Center does add one thing: parents can see, for the past seven days only, whether a child messaged someone they then removed as a friend.
Third, the group considers it impractical. Teens can have hundreds of friends, and some send hundreds of thousands of snaps per year. The tool reportedly offers no alert when a child adds a new connection. It also shows only registered names, which teens often replace with first names, nicknames or phrases.
Fourth, the group says the most common dangers come from peers children know in person, including cyberbullying, sexting, depression, self-harm, violence, sexual harassment, hate speech and substance abuse. Family Center does not address those.
How parents set it up
Parents need their own Snapchat account. They send a connection request to the child, who must accept it. The parent then searches "Family Center" using the magnifying glass on the home screen and adds the child to the dashboard. The child must approve that invitation too.
Suggested ways to get more from it
The organization recommends pairing Family Center with its "Buckling the Social Media Seatbelt System":
- Talk with your child about why you are using the tool and the risks of connecting with people they do not know in real life.
- Set rules, especially for younger teens, such as no connections with people they do not know offline or who are not their own age. Consider capping the number of friends and agreeing in advance on consequences, such as losing Snapchat or a mobile device for a period.
- Use operating system or third-party safety app settings to limit Snapchat time, which could mean fewer connections to review.
The group also urges parents to consider whether their child is ready for Snapchat at all. Snapchat's own terms of service say children under 13 should not use the platform. The organization says it will keep reassessing the tool.