Snapchat Safety Centre

Snapchat is a fast, fun way to share moments with friends and family. Most of our community uses Snapchat every day, so it isn’t surprising that parents and teachers regularly ask us for advice. We share your concerns and wish to provide a safe, fun environment for creativity and expression.

Reporting is easy!

In-App Reporting

You can easily report inappropriate content to us right in the app! Just press and hold on the Snap, then tap the “Report Snap” button. Let us know what’s going on – we’ll do our best to help! Learn more about reporting abuse in-app and download our Quick-Guide to Snapchat Reporting.

Safety is a shared responsibility

Since the beginning, Snapchat has been about empowering people to express themselves with their camera. We didn’t want to create a social network where you automatically friend everyone you know, or where you only see what’s most popular. Instead, we wanted to make it easier for people, publishers and brands to tell their stories — their way!

Snapchat is for personal communication, not broadcasting.

Snaps are made for quick and easy communication, which is why they delete by default! Friends will only see the things that you send them directly or choose to post publicly to your Story.

Approach to Safety Partnerships.

Snap is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our community, and our teams, products, policies and partnerships apply safety-by-design principles to keep Snapchatters safe and informed.

In addition to our internal team of content moderators, who directly work to keep our platform safe, we work with industry experts and non-governmental organizations to provide resources and support to Snapchatters in need. 

Trusted Flagger Programme.

Our Trusted Flagger Programme was developed to help provide support for non-profits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), select government agencies and safety partners that support the Snapchat community and report content that violates our Community Guidelines.

Safety Advisory Board.

Our Safety Advisory Board members also educate, challenge, raise issues and advise Snap on how to keep the Snapchat community safe.

Through our partnerships, we have been able to create resources, such as Here for You, a custom section in Search that houses localised resources and content from professional non-profit organizations that’s shown when people type in words associated with being in crisis, and launch Safety Snapshot, our digital literacy programme aimed at educating Snapchatters about issues like data privacy, security and online safety. For more information about our wellness resources, download our Quick-Guide to Snapchat Wellness Resources!

Digital Well-Being Index and Research

To offer insight into how teens and young adults are faring online, Snap conducted research into Generation Z's digital well-being. The study, which draws on more than four decades of subjective well-being research, was adapted for the online environment to produce a Digital Well-Being Index (DWBI), a measure of Gen Z's online psychological well-being. In 2022, we surveyed teens (aged 13-17), young adults (aged 18-24) and parents of teens, aged 13 to 19 in six countries: Australia, France, Germany, India, UK and the U.S. We asked about their exposure to various online risks and, from those results and other attitudinal responses, devised a DWBI for each country and a combined reading across all six. The 2022 Digital Well-Being Index for the six geographies stands at 62. To read more about the Digital Well-Being Index and the research findings, please visit our DWBI page

Tips for staying safe

As Snapchat has grown over the years, your privacy and safety have always been top of mind. That said, there are some steps you can take to make sure you stay extra safe!

Snapchat Etiquette

Be kind and respectful to other Snapchatters. Be thoughtful about what you Snap, and don't send people anything they wouldn't want to receive.

Snaps Delete by Default, But...

Remember, even though Snaps are designed to delete by default, a friend can still grab a screenshot or take a picture with another device.

Privacy settings

Check your privacy settings to choose who can send you Snaps, or view your Stories and location on Snap Map.

Friends

Snapchat was made for keeping in touch with your close friends, so we'd suggest against friending anyone you don't know in real life.

Community Guidelines

Read up and follow our Community Guidelines, and try to help your friends follow them too!

Report Safety Concerns

If you come across something upsetting, or if anyone asks you to do something inappropriate or that makes you uncomfortable, please report the Snap to us — and talk to your parent or a trusted adult about it.

Bullying

If someone is bullying or harassing you, report the Snap to us — and talk to your parent or a trusted adult about it. You can also always block that person and leave any group chat where bullying is taking place.

  • Additional Help: Snapchat is also partnered with the Crisis Text Line to provide additional support and resources to Snapchatters in the US. Just text KIND to 741741 to chat with a live, trained crisis counsellor at Crisis Text Line. This service is free and available 24/7!

Password Security

Keep your password safe and don't share it with any other people, applications, or websites under any circumstances. We also suggest using a different password for every service you use.

Subscribe to Safety Snapshot

This Discover Channel was created to increase digital literacy and educate Snapchatters about safety and privacy tips and tricks.

Manage Your Discover Content

On Discover, you can watch friends' Stories, Publisher Stories, Shows and Snap Map to learn about things going on around the world! You can also decide what Discover content you'd like to see.

  • Friends: Friends' Stories are sorted based on who you keep in touch with the most, so you'll usually see mainly the people you care about. Learn more on how to manage your friends or add new friends.

  • Subscriptions: Right below the Friends section, you'll see your favourite content from publishers, creators and other channels that you've subscribed to. These are sorted by which Story was updated most recently.

  • Discover: Here you'll find a growing list of recommended Stories from publishers and creators you don't subscribe to yet — as well as Sponsored Stories, and Stories from our community around the world. If you really don't like a certain Story you come across, you can always hold down on it and tap “Hide” to hide that Story and others like it.

  • Hiding Stories on Discover: You can always hide any Story that you don't want to see. Just press and hold on a Story and tap “Hide”.

  • Reporting Stories on Discover: if you come across something inappropriate on Discover, please reach out to us! Just press and hold on the inappropriate Snap, and tap the 'Report Snap' button to report it.

Age Minimum

Snapchat requires individuals to be 13+, and if we determine an account belongs to someone younger than 13, we take action to terminate it.