Snapchat chief executive Evan Spiegel has told the BBC that the company would be willing to introduce a default daily time limit for teenage users. He described the idea as a potentially important industry step, but did not commit to when Snap might act.
Spiegel’s comments follow Meta’s agreement with US states to introduce a two-hour daily limit for teenagers across Facebook and Instagram by default, alongside measures including muted notifications during school hours and overnight blocks. Meta agreed to pay $12.7bn under the settlement and could pay a further $5.3bn if YouTube and TikTok adopt similar measures, according to the supplied BBC report.
Meta has faced allegations from attorneys general that its platforms were deliberately designed to be addictive to young users. Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap have also faced litigation alleging links between their apps and a youth mental health crisis. Snap has separately been accused of facilitating illegal drug sales. Meta has denied wrongdoing as part of its settlement.
Spiegel said Snap had considered Meta’s proposals internally and that a time limit was “a really good example” of a measure the company might implement. He pointed to Snapchat’s Family Center, which allows parents to monitor some aspects of their teenagers’ use. Google declined to comment on whether it would adopt the measures, while TikTok did not respond to the BBC’s request.
The remarks came as Snap announced features for Specs, its next smart-glasses product. The company says the glasses will use artificial intelligence to suggest activities based on users’ goals, relationships and routines, and will support functions including video streaming and live translation across 60 languages.
Specs are priced at $2,195 in the United States and £1,995 in the UK. Snap says the glasses weigh about 130 grams, use see-through lenses and are aimed initially at early adopters, developers and enterprise customers. The company says they will not use facial recognition and that a flashing white light will indicate when the glasses are recording. Snap’s product follows an earlier, short-lived Spectacles venture that cost the company tens of millions of dollars.