Snapchat ‘willing’ to limit teens’ time on platform, CEO says

Social media platform Snapchat would be "willing to implement" time limits for teenage users, Evan Spiegel, CEO of its parent company Snap, said Wednesday.

Speaking to the BBC at the company's California headquarters, Spiegel said limiting the time young users could spend on the app could be "an important step forward for the industry."

"That's something we've talked about internally," he said, without committing to a timeline. "I don't have more to share today."

His comments followed calls from Meta for other social media companies to adopt restrictions similar to those it agreed to introduce under a multibillion-dollar settlement with US states.

Under the August settlement, Meta agreed to pay $12.7 billion and introduce a default two-hour daily limit for teenage users across its platforms, mute notifications during school hours and restrict nighttime access.

"I think that would be beneficial overall," Spiegel told the BBC. "We've looked really thoughtfully at the terms."

Meta said it would introduce stricter time limits and pay an additional $5.3 billion if YouTube and TikTok follow suit. It denied wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

Last month, a Meta spokesperson expressed hope that Snap would adopt similar measures.

Spiegel noted that Snap's Family Center already gives parents tools to monitor aspects of their teenagers' Snapchat use.

"We want to figure out how we can be part of the solution," he added.

Lawsuits against Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap accuse the companies of harming young people’s mental health through their platforms. Snap has also been accused of facilitating illegal drug sales.