Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, thanked social media company Snapchat for its new parental control feature, which was rolled out in the UAE on Wednesday.
Introduced globally last month, the “Family Centre” feature allows parents to see accounts teenagers have been in conversation with over the past seven days, although they will not be able to see the content.
The feature also gives parents permission to confidentially report any abusive or suspicious accounts to the app's safety team.
To activate the feature, parents invite their teenagers to join Family Centre on Snapchat, which gives them access to their friends list.
Snapchat plans to introduce additional features in the coming months, including notifications to parents when their teenagers reports abuse from a user.
Snap’s new tools follow a similar move by Instagram, which launched its Family Centre in March, allowing parents to view what accounts their teenagers follow and how much time they spend on the app.
The feature's launch in the UAE followed co-operation between the Ministry of Possibilities and Snap, news agency Wam reported.
The feature supports “the UAE's efforts in its endeavours to enhance … digital well-being, ensure that the internet is safe and secure, and provide a safe environment especially for children”, by using modern technology, Wam said.
The Family Centre feature was unveiled at a ceremony at the Ministry of Possibilities, attended by Sheikh Saif, Ohood Al Roumi, Minister of State for Governmental Development and Future, Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Digital Economy, AI and Remote Working System, as well as representatives from Snapchat.
The attendees witnessed the sign-up of the first Emirati family that will make use of the new feature.
Writing on Twitter, Sheikh Saif, thanked Snapchat for creating a safer digital environment for teenagers.
“My appreciation goes out to Snapchat for its distinguished efforts in enhancing the quality of digital life and providing a safe environment for children as part of the UAE government's ongoing efforts to improve the quality of digital life,” he said.
“Launching the Family Centre feature to support positive parental control and a safer digital future, Snapchat has collaborated with the Ministry of Possibilities to consolidate positive parental control for a safer digital future.”
By default, profiles for Snapchat users under 18 are private and they only show up as a suggested friend in search results when they have friends in common with another user. Users must be at least 13 years old to sign up.
Snapchat has more than 75 million users in the Mena region, one of the platform’s biggest global markets.
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1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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