Instagram vs. Snapchat for Teens: Which App Is Safer—and What You Can Control for Free

The Download Instagram’s Teen Accounts and Supervision offer many controls to limit sensitive content, app use, and more. Snapchat’s parental controls are fewer, but Teen Accounts automatically restrict content access and location sharing. Neither platform verifies age and parents can’t monitor all activity or interactions. If you’re a parent to a teen, you’re all too familiar with the growing concerns about social media safety for teens. Instagram and Snapchat are similar in many ways, but privacy, communication, and data settings differ in numerous ways. This article explores the settings parents can manage to keep kids safer, and the advantages and limitations of each platform. Snapchat Parental Controls Snapchat states that teens must be 13 to create an account. Every user under 18 is enrolled as a Teen Account, which means extra safeguards are on by default. These include: Private account status In-app warnings for messaging non-contacts Only age-appropriate content No location sharing Snapchat has some parental controls, which live in the Family Center. Parents can access these settings by creating their own Snapchat accounts and sending an invite to their teens. When a teen accepts the request, parents can open the Family Center by tapping Settings > Family Center and
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