This past Monday, Snapchat implemented new guidelines to help create a safer environment for minors who use the app. Previously, Snapchat allowed unfiltered access to all of its Discover content to every user. The new guidelines hope to change that by allowing Discover publishers to age-gate their content in an effort to limit minors’ access to inappropriate content.
The Nation Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) sees this as a huge victory considering they have been pushing for such guidelines sine the inception of the app. This is because the app allows for users to send explicit material to other users without consent. This poses a huge issue for protecting minors and keeping their social experiences safe.
Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of NCOSE said, “This is a victory for the thousands of individuals who have taken action through NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen List—on which Snapchat is targeted as a mainstream facilitator of sexual exploitation—as well as other activism campaigns that are calling for Snapchat to take responsibility for creating a safe user environment. We are grateful that Snapchat has made this policy improvement, but there is much more work for Snapchat to do. For instance, we ask that Snapchat mandate that publishers shield minors from sexually graphic stories and that Snapchat institute improved reporting processes for users to report accounts sending sexually explicit images within the app.” 
Seems as though Snapchat is making an effort to make the platform much safer for all of its users.
