Attention teens in Australia and across Europe: Snap is expanding its Council for Digital Well-Being (CDWB) programme to your geographies, and we want to hear from you! This is your opportunity to have your voices heard about online safety and digital life. Effective today, Snap is accepting applications for two, separate “sister” councils to our inaugural CDWB in the U.S. The programmes will each run about 18 months and are designed for teenagers in Australia and Europe.

Generation Z teens are highly technically literate, innovative, and resourceful, and we at Snap are interested in their strategies for thriving online and promoting strong digital well-being. We’re also interested in their ideas for continuing to make Snapchat a more enjoyable place for creativity and connection with friends and family. We appreciate that being online can present some very real risks. And, we want to foster young people’s understanding and appreciation of those risks so they feel equipped to handle online issues they may encounter. We also want to arm them with useful tools, actionable advice, and smart strategies to help assist others in their families, schools, and communities.

We’ve been piloting a similar programme in the U.S. for nearly a year, and we don’t want to wait any longer before rolling out this programme to other parts of the world. Our goal with each of our councils is to solicit diverse perspectives from teens on the state of life online today, as well as their hopes and ideals for more positive and rewarding experiences.

The programme will feature monthly calls, project work, and engagement with members of our global Safety Advisory Board and U.S. teen council. In the first year, selected members will be invited to a Snap office in their respective region for a two-day summit and, in Year Two, we’re planning more public-facing events where council members will share their learnings and perspectives.

Apply to join our “sister” Councils for Digital Well-Being
Interested teens living in Australia should complete and submit this online application by close of business (5:00 PM AEDT) on Friday, 28 March 2025.

Similarly, teens living in Europe, including the UK, should complete and submit this online application by close of business (5:00 PM CET) on Friday, 28 March 2025. Incomplete, inaccurate, or applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

In addition to some basic information, the application calls for essay and short video responses to questions about social media use and online life generally, as well as expectations for the council experience and familiarity with, and views of, the Snapchat app and Snap as a company. Note that for ease and consistency, council discussions and activities will be conducted in English.

Two-day summit
Following application reviews and selection by our in-house committee, we’ll invite about 15 young people from each geography to join the Australian and European councils. Both programmes will culminate in the first year with a two-day trip for each council member and a parent, guardian, or chaperone to attend a council summit. The Australian summit will be held in Sydney, and the European Summit will be held in Amsterdam. Airfare, accommodation, meals, and associated travel costs for each council member and one parent, guardian, or chaperone will be paid by Snap.

Summits are expected to include small-group and full-council discussions, a short “parent track” for guardians and chaperones, interactive sessions with guest speakers, engagement with Snap leaders, and fun activities. After the summit, we hope council members and their adult participants will serve as local ambassadors for digital well-being and positive engagement on Snapchat and across the technology ecosystem. For questions about the council or planned activities, contact platform-safety@snapchat.com.

To learn more about Snap’s commitment to, and work in, online safety generally, visit our Privacy & Safety Hub, and be sure to check out our latest global research about digital well-being in Australia, France, Germany, India, the UK, and the U.S. released last week on Safer Internet Day 2025. We look forward to sharing news about selected council members in the second quarter.

— Jacqueline Beauchere, Global Head of Platform Safety