Snap has apparently revised its Snap Kit guidelines, which allow app developers to incorporate different parts of Snapchat into their own apps, in reaction to many lawsuits being filed after some youngsters committed suicide after being harassed on social media platforms.
According to a news site, Snap will no longer enable Snap Kit developers to incorporate anonymous SMS Services on the service and will compel “friend-finding” applications to incorporate age limits in an effort to stop pedophiles from using them to discover future victims.
These modifications seem to have already been incorporated into Snap Kit’s official Safety Protocols:
- Matchmaking or friend-finding apps are not permitted unless they are age-gated and prohibited to individuals above the age of 18. These integrations will be subject to further information being provided throughout the Review Process.
- It is not permissible to employ anonymous integrations to promote communication between Snapchat users who do not have verified and public account names.
As per the news site, Snap Kit app developers will now have one month to comply with all of the new requirements, even if it appears that most app developers will not have to transform much. Snap maintains that the regulation regarding anonymous messaging applications will impact 2 percent of developers, while the new age limit would impact 3 percent.
Snap informs the news site that it desires to “cultivate an environment that assists applications in safeguarding user safety, confidentiality, and well-being whilst also unlocking product innovation for devs and assisting them in promoting their products,” and that it will “proceed to frequently assess our guidelines, supervise app compliance, and collaborate with developers to effectively defend the well-being of our society.”
While the modifications have an influence on 3rd party apps that integrate with Snapchat, the service has yet to solve child safety problems on its platform, such as an age-gated experience for youngsters, akin to TikTok, or the rollout of its anticipated parental controls, which Instagram and TikTok currently possess.
