Snapchat was founded on the belief that talking with photos and videos, with our real friends, was more personal and more fun than texting. Whilst we have continued to evolve our platform in the time since, we have never strayed from our core mission of helping close friends express themselves freely and be creative together – and making sure they can do it safely.
Privacy, safety and ensuring the well-being of our community are deeply rooted in our values and product philosophy. Snapchat was built with privacy at its core – starting with ephemerality – and designed to let people be themselves without the pressure of being judged by others. For example, we develop new products and features using a privacy- and safety-by-design approach, we treat Snapchatters’ data with care and sensitivity, and we have been proactive in working to protect our platform from fake news and misinformation.
All of this reflects the responsibility we feel to help make a positive impact on the lives of the people who use our platform. Today, in honour of Safer Internet Day, we are announcing several resources to help uphold this responsibility. We’re starting with a new feature, called Here For You, that will provide proactive in-app support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis or who may be curious to learn more about these issues and how they can help friends dealing with them.
Here For You, which will roll out in the coming months, will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for certain topics, including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts and bullying.
Today, Snapchatters will also be able to engage with Creative Tools and Lenses that promote safety and privacy, which include new Filters and our first-ever Snappable quiz.
We encourage all Snapchatters to check out these new Filters and our quiz – and join us in doing our part to create a safer internet!