TikTok And Snapchat Asked To Improve Parental Control Features With Third Parties

TikTok and Snapchat are said to be in dire need of more parental control features on their apps. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Social media platforms are currently gaining attention. This includes TikTok and Snapchat which are said to be in dire need of more parental control features on their apps.

The request was made by the National Association of Attorney Generals (NAAG), and sent a series of letters of concern to the two social media applications, which are commonly used among teenagers.

The letter has been signed by 44 attorney generals. Writing in the letter, NAAG mentioned the various problems they have with social media applications, including the negative impact they can have on the physical, emotional and mental well-being of children and youth.

They also note that content about abusive sexual relationships can seriously undermine children's views of healthy relationships, helping to perpetuate domestic violence and human trafficking.

In fact, the letter also stressed that TikTok and Snapchat should collaborate with third-party parental control apps to allow parents to monitor and limit what their children can do on the platform.

“Parental control apps can alert parents or schools about potentially harmful and harmful messages and posts on your platform. Apps can also alert parents if their child shows a desire to self-harm or commit suicide,” the letter reads as quoted by TechCrunch, Tuesday, April 5.

In fact, Snapchat already has some in-app parental controls, just like TikTok, but NAAG wants the platform to be more compatible with third-party parental control apps, even if they don't support certain products.

They suggest that parental control apps can access social media app features such as private messages, which are not monitored by built-in parental controls. In addition, third-party apps can better filter user-generated content that appears in the app's main feed.

Unlike its competitor, Instagram, which did not previously have parental control features. After revealing the impact of social media on teens' mental health, Instagram's parent company Meta, recently started rolling out parental controls on Instagram, a long overdue security measure.