Evan Spiegel, the chief executive of Snap Inc., stated in an interview with the BBC that his company is willing to implement daily time limits for teenage users on Snapchat. Spiegel described the potential move as a positive step for establishing industry norms, though he did not provide a specific date for when such changes might take place. The statement follows a request from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for other social media platforms to adopt similar restrictions.
The discussion regarding time limits follows a $12.7 billion legal settlement between Meta and attorneys general from a majority of U.S. states. As part of that agreement, Meta committed to implementing a default two-hour daily limit for teen users, along with muting notifications during school hours and blocking access at night. Meta, which denies any wrongdoing, stated it would pay an additional $5.3 billion toward the settlement if competitors YouTube and TikTok also adopted these specific measures.
Spiegel noted that Snap Inc. currently provides a "Family Center" feature that allows parents to monitor how their teenagers use the app. While he expressed openness to the default time limit requested by Meta, he said the company is still evaluating the terms internally. In response to similar inquiries, Google, the parent company of YouTube, declined to comment, while TikTok did not respond to requests for information regarding their plans for teen time limits.
In addition to policy discussions, Snap Inc. announced new features for its upcoming augmented reality eyewear, called Specs. The glasses, which weigh 130 grams, use artificial intelligence to provide recommendations based on a user's routines and goals. The device is priced at $2,195 in the U.S. and £1,995 in the U.K., with the company identifying early tech adopters and developers as the primary target audience.
The development of smart glasses has raised privacy concerns regarding unauthorized filming in public. Snap Inc. stated that Specs will include a white indicator light that flashes when the device is recording video or taking photos to alert bystanders. This design choice follows reports of users of rival products tampering with indicator lights to film others secretly. Meta reported it has remotely disabled cameras on thousands of its devices where such tampering was detected.
The scale of this shift is tied to a multi-billion dollar legal framework. Meta’s $12.7 billion settlement, to be paid over a 10-year period, includes a $5.3 billion incentive contingent on whether platforms like TikTok and YouTube join these efforts. For a single household, this means the digital experience for children could become more uniform across different apps, potentially reducing the time spent on mobile devices by several hours per week.
These changes are a response to ongoing litigation alleging that social media platforms contribute to a youth mental health crisis. If these time limits become an industry standard, it could set a precedent for how tech companies are regulated by state governments rather than federal legislation. The next steps depend on whether TikTok and Google choose to adopt these limits; however, Snap Inc. has not yet disclosed a deadline for when its teen users will see these features active on their devices.