Ky asks Snap and TikTok to give parents more control over apps

A group of lawyers on Tuesday asked Snap and TikTok to work more closely with parental control apps and apply more oversight over inappropriate content on their platforms. is the latest move in a growing battle over child protection between governments and social media companies.

Attorneys general from 43 states and territories said in a letter to the executives of the two apps that they were concerned that the companies had “failed to take the appropriate steps to allow parents to protect their children on your platform.” Specifically, officials say that Snap, the company that makes the Snapchat and TikTok apps, should work more closely with third-party parental control services.

Some have raised concerns that third-party parental controls survey young people but don’t actually prevent them from encountering harmful content. The attorney general said in the letter, organized by the National Bar Association, that they do not endorse a particular parental control product. They also called on companies to tighten up parental monitoring tools and do a better job of removing content that could be harmful to children.

Concerns that popular social media platforms could expose children to posts with pornography, hurt body image or violence have increased in recent years. The state attorney general is currently investigating whether Facebook, which is owned by Meta and TikTok, part of China’s ByteDance group, has led young people down a path of harm. President Biden also called for new online privacy regulations for children during his State of the Union address earlier this month.

Concern in this regard is global. Britain has issued guidance on how tech companies can design services without violating children’s privacy, prompting some companies to introduce new parental controls around the world. The UK is also currently considering expanding online safety legislation that will be enforced by its media regulator.

Rachel Racusen, Snap spokeswoman, said: “We’re currently developing new tools for parents to give them greater insight and visibility into how their children are doing. how they interact on Snapchat and ways to report troubling content.” The tools will launch “in the coming months,” she said.

TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.