Snapchat limits friend recommendation on teen accounts

Snapchat is changing the “Quick Add”feature. Referral from friends is now limited to teenagers.

Snapchat has decided to make some changes to its friend recommendation feature after constant requests to improve the app’s overall security. The company is making it harder for strangers to find teens on the app by limiting recommendations in the Quick Add feature.

Snapchat is changing the “Quick Add”feature

Now, the app will no longer show the accounts of young people aged 13 to 17 in the quick add feature unless they have “a certain number of accounts in common,”according to Snap. This change won’t stop adults and teens from making connections, but it will make it harder for strangers to find teens they don’t already know. In a blog post, the platform explains that the change is part of its “battling the fentanyl epidemic”and preventing dealers from looking for “new ways to abuse Snapchat.”

Referral from friends is now limited to teenagers

In recent months, the company has drawn the attention of authorities for the way it has treated its drug traffickers on its platform. Lawmakers and other security advocates have urged Snap to do more to keep dealers out of the platform following reports of overdoses linked to drugs purchased through the app. Snap also recently said it has improved its ability to proactively detect “drug-related content”on its platform: 88% of “drug-related content”is now “proactively detected”thanks to artificial intelligence. The company also says it has significantly strengthened the team that works directly with law enforcement organizations and has “significantly improved” its response time to legal requests.

During a Senate hearing this fall, Snap’s vice president of global public policy, Jennifer Stout, said the company is working on new parental controls that could make it easier for parents to monitor kids’ online activity. These updates have yet to be released, but the company hopes to do so “in the coming months.”