Snapchat 'willing to implement' daily time limits for teens, boss tells BBC

ByLily Jamali North America Technology correspondent.

Key points

• But the tech won't come cheap – retailing at $2, 195 in the US and £1, 995 in the UK.
• Spiegel was talking to the BBC as Snapchat's parent Snap Inc confirmed new features for its upcoming Specs glasses.
• Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap have all faced a barrage of litigation alleging their apps have supported spawn a youth mental health crisis.
• After a call from Meta for it to take action, the boss of Snapchat notes the firm would be "willing to implement" time limits for teens.
• Instagram and Facebook-parent Meta was facing allegations from Attorneys General for most US states who remarked the firm deliberately designed its apps to be addictive to young users.

Evan Spiegel informed the BBC in an interview at the company's California headquarters that he believed setting a maximum amount of time that young users could spend on the app could be "an notable step forward for the industry. ".

His comments came as the firm made public a slew of new features for its upcoming Specs glasses. It it stated could connect to Apple iPhone and Mac devices.

Meta has been pressuring other social media firms to join it in making platform changes it agreed to as part of a recent multi-billion dollar legal settlement with US states.

It agreed to pay $12.7bn and implement a two-hour daily limit for teen users throughout its platforms by default, along with muted notifications during school hours, blocks at night and other measures.

"I think it is an important step forward in the industry in terms of really identifying industry norms, and I think that would be beneficial overall, " Spiegel informed the BBC. "We've looked really thoughtfully at the terms."

As part of Meta's August settlement, the firm stated it would implement even more stringent time limits and pay an extra $5.3bn if YouTube and TikTok follow suit. It has denied any wrongdoing as part of the accord. It will be paid over a 10-year period.

Last month, a Meta spokesperson remarked it was hopeful that Snap would produce similar platform changes as well.

Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap have all faced a barrage of litigation alleging their apps have supported spawn a youth mental health crisis. Snap has additionally been accused of facilitating illegal drug sales.

When asked regarding the idea of a default time limit, Spiegel stated: "I think that's a really good example of something that that we'd be willing to implement."

But Spiegel did not commit to a timeline on when Snap might take action.

"That's something we've talked about internally, " he remarked. "I don't have more to share today."

He observed that Snap offers tools through its Family Center feature. It at present enables parents to track aspects of how their teens are using Snapchat.

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

YouTube-parent Google remarked it had no comment when asked if it planned to implement the measures in Meta's settlement. TikTok did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.

He remarked the smart eyewear would apply AI to suggest things for individuals to do based on what the tech learns concerning their goals, relationships and routines.

"Rather than the way that people use chatbots today where you constantly have to ask for stuff, Specs can understand what's important to you, and then offer recommendations or offer next steps, " he remarked.

Like other smart glasses, Specs will employ AI to let residents see digital elements overlaid onto the world.

"The target audience right now is early adopters of tech and developers as well as enterprise, " Spiegel remarked.

With the device, Snap intends to offer a middle ground between VR headsets like Meta's Quest 3 and lightweight AI smart glasses offered by rivals which look more like conventional glasses. "We're creating a totally new category here, " remarked Spiegel.

"You have a really powerful computer that brings a lot of the immersive capability you see with VR, but they're also lightweight at just about 130 grams, so they're very wearable and they have these see-through lenses, so you can use them out in the world."

Specs is Snap's most recent foray into the wearable tech, coming a decade after its short-lived Spectacles cost the firm tens of millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, the device is additionally arriving as Meta is facing a significant backlash over its own smart glasses. It are estimated to be the most popular of the market.

While another stated they were informed to pay to remove a video of them from the internet, some online derisively call them "pervert glasses" over how they have been applied to secretly film women, with one person telling the BBC they were filmed leaving the beach.

Nevertheless, sales continue to rise. With seven million pairs having been sold according to Meta.

Snap remarked it has built into the design of Specs. It do not apply facial recognition to identify individuals.

Meanwhile, a white light flashes at the top of the glasses above the users nose when it is recording video and taking a photo.

In practice, the firm states that will let individuals nearby see that recording is happening.

Users of Meta glasses have figured out ways to obscure components meant to indicate that a photo or video is being captured, including by tampering with the electronics in the device.

Meta notes it has remotely disabled the cameras on thousands of its devices on which tampering or destruction of the indicator light was detected. What is AI and how does it work?

Smart glasses are 'an invasion of privacy' – Meta's are selling better than ever.

Meanwhile, the Meta glasses revolution – is it okay to film individuals in public?

Taken together, the developments around snapchat ' willing to implement' daily time limits for teens, boss tells BBC point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.