Snap, Send, Regret: The Risks of Snapchat that Parents Need to Know

What’s Snapchat?

Social media platforms are typically made with the idea of connection but the way an app is designed can affect how safe or risky it is. Platforms typically have similar systems of communication. Most platforms save messages or posts , but what makes Snapchat different from other platforms is that it's built around the idea of temporary communication. Messages disappear and conversations are not automatically saved to be accessed later. For many young users, this can make people let their guard down when posting and in turn, increases risk taking on the app (Milne et al., 2025). 

While the foundational concept of Snapchat already feels suspect, the concerns extend far beyond just simple teen impulsivity. In 2024, the New Mexico Attorney General filed a lawsuit alleging that Snapchat facilitates sextortion and distribution of CSAM through providing predators an access to minors (Miller, 2024). The complaint doesn’t blame just individual users, but instead argues that Snapchat’s inherent design enables abuse and secrecy. In other words, it’s not a glitch, it’s a feature. 

While any platform can be misused like what we discussed earlier in our post about X and Grok, certain design choices can create structures for abuse. When an app has messages being deleted as a selling point, it inherently makes it harder to hold people accountable to ensure exploitation does not happen. Because of that, the issue is not solely on bad users, but how the platform design can unintentionally make users more vulnerable, especially for already vulnerable users like children moving through social media platforms and forming digital relationships. Understanding the risks youth face on Snapchat as well as how the failures of the app affect those who use it will help prevention efforts be able to address the situation appropriately.

Risks for Our Children

Research has consistently identified Snapchat as the prominent platform for sexual communication for minors. This is seen in the number of reported grooming offenses which Snapchat frequently appears as one of the most commonly used platforms (Teunissen & Napier, 2022). The nature of the platform helps explain this pattern of misuse. By combining imaged based communication and the feature of deleting messages makes it easier for people to pressure or manipulate others (Milne et al., 2025). Private messages limit any form of oversight and a visual element to online exchanges increases the level of intimacy. Adolescents dealing with peer validation, self esteem issues, and forming their digital identity may be especially susceptible to pressure within these conditions.

While content may disappear, this does not stop screen-shotting and redistribution of whatever was sent. This is the root of the illusion of communication being temporary that ends up lowering inhibitions in its users without eliminating the risk of exploitation. The aforementioned New Mexico lawsuit mentions perpetrators using the platform to solicit images, then threatening distribution if additional content or payment isn't sent. This is Sextortion. These built in features create a pattern of exploitation with little to no oversight or accountability. 

Another feature highlighted in New Mexico lawsuit was the “Quick Add” feature as well as the friend suggestion algorithm. These often have exposed minors to unknown adults beyond their social circles (Miller, 2024). This rapid connection and expansion of visibility has made it easier for strangers to connect allowing potential predators to enter spaces where minors typically are much more easier. Additionally, the more you engage with something, the algorithm puts more of the same content in front of you (Teunissen & Napier, 2022). This can quickly expose users to more of the same risky content that could put them in the sights of a predator. Even if Snapchat had strong moderation to provide accountability for inappropriate messaging/content, the nature of their platform would counteract their moderation efforts because the design works against any efforts of moderation.

The Legal Response

Let's bring our attention back to the New Mexico lawsuit and how the design of Snapchat allegedly enables exploitation rather than mitigating it. The suit further claims that Snapchat failed to implement sufficient age verification systems that would limit children from joining the app. According to the filing, the platform safeguards were inadequate given the known risks of sextortion and the distribution of CSAM through private messaging channels (Miller, 2024). The New Mexico attorney general’s office recognizes that this issue centers on responsibility of the platform, not just individual users while framing the argument as a failure of corporate management.

The case also reflects patterns abroad as well since Snapchat is not just used in the US. Researchers Teunissen and Napier (2022) have found increasing concern building in international law enforcement agencies and policy makers regarding the encrypted form of communication that Snap Inc. implements. Systems like those vastly limit any form of oversight while still being incredibly accessible. At the same time, researchers have also advocated for the need of more age appropriate algorithms or content moderation (called duty of care standards) for platforms that are centered around adolescents/children (Milne et al., 2025). Having regulations enforcing the implementation of duty of care would be a proactive measure to reduce exposure risks and have transparent safety measures, rather than the unknown and lackluster systems that are already in place.

Addressing Harm and Prevention

It is also important to understand the impact of adolescent development and how they are especially vulnerable. Research has consistently shown that teenagers are both socially and more likely to follow what others are doing, have high impulsivity, which leads to increased risky behavior. In an environment where users are rewarded for exchanging images with social validation, it plays directly into the developmental features of adolescents (Milne et al., 2025). Sextortion cases often begin with voluntary image sharing that later escalates into coercion, the same could be said for revenge porn cases as well. The New Mexico lawsuit used that perpetrators frequently initiate contact through ordinary social interactions and subsequently threaten distribution of sent material if further demands are not met (Miller, 2024). 

The response to the inadequacies of Snapchat’s design have to be layered and addressed at the regulatory, structural, and individual level.

Regulatory

Regulatory bodies must clarify and codify duty of care standards, especially for platforms with a heavy youth user base like Snapchat. This would include mandatory reporting statutes, age verification, and in the spirit of the Grok part of the series, some AI content moderation as well. Also, some sort of body to oversee how the app recommends and shows content that would grade platform’s algorithm to ensure it doesn't create an environment of exploitation or facilitates predatory behavior would also reduce risk. However, prevention is not achieved solely at the regulatory level, and also requires platform involvement.

Structural 

Prevention Stars with Parents feels strongly that these businesses are absolutely responsible for their product and outcomes of their products. While regulations would give platforms the push they need, it would also be crucial for platforms to be more proactive in user safety while using their apps. Employee training should include discussions on social media risks like sextortion and other forms of abuse that could be used on their platforms. The implementation of sensible regulations and moderation teams would be a dream combo that could do a lot of good prevention work on the platform side. It’s also important that while a lot could be done in terms of policy, educating the people is also a profound part of prevention.

Individual

Finally, caregivers must be equipped to know how to interact with these platforms and those they know that use them. First by knowing what these platforms are and how they operate. Things like knowing the gimmick of temporary content, the coercive risk that is facilitated by the algorithm, etc. Caregivers could help educate within their household by addressing how these could impact their child - discussing topics like sextortion or revenge porn. And if you aren’t ready to have conversations like that with your child, allowing certain apps like Snapchat shouldn’t be allowed in your household. Establishing trust and creating clear ways of reporting harm in communities are essential so that minors know where to turn when exploitation occurs.

References:

Miller, G. (2024, September 5). Snapchat is a “Breeding ground” for child predators, according to New Mexico lawsuit. Tech Policy Press. https://www.techpolicy.press/snapchat-is-a-breeding-ground-for-child-predators-according-to-new-mexico-lawsuit/

Pfefferkorn, R. (2025). Addressing AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: Opportunities for Educational Policy. In HAI Policy & Society. https://hai.stanford.edu/assets/files/hai-policy-brief-addressing-ai-csam.pdf

Teunissen, C., & Napier, S. (2022). Child sexual abuse material and end-to-end encryption on social media platforms: an overview. In Australian Institute of Criminology eBooks. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti78634