Snapchat identified as leading social media platform linked to child sexual offences

Snapchat has been identified as the leading social media platform linked to child sexual offences, accounting for about 40% of reported cases, followed by Instagram at 11% and Facebook at 7%.

Heidi Mattisen, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town's Ethics Lab, explains that Snapchat’s core features, such as vanishing content and popularity-driven 'streaks', can unintentionally incentivise children to engage with strangers.

"One of the unique selling points of Snapchat is the disappearing messages. So, you can have a conversation or what they call a streak with someone, and those messages or images can disappear after a while, and so there is a particular vulnerability in Snapchat.

"What they've put into Snapchat is a way for children trying to become more popular, trying to have a million score on Snap score, for example. So, they incentivise children accepting overtures from strangers, and that's not acceptable, and that needs to change.

"The tech companies, the parents, the guardians, the educators, have a responsibility to teach their children about the dangers of certain kinds of private messaging and privacy.

"What we need to do is have conversations with our children to alert them to the dangers; we can't pretend they're not there."

While Snapchat is less widely used in South Africa, concerns remain, especially as most local users are young and predominantly female.

To listen to Mattisen in conversation with CapeTalk's Clarence Ford, use the audio player below: