Snapchat UK: Find Friends Turned Off by Default for Children

What Changed

On 6 November 2026 Ofcom said Snapchat is, from that day, turning off its 'Find Friends' feature for child users by default, as Snap begins to roll out anti-grooming measures for children in the UK. Ofcom called the change important and 'long overdue', and said it will hold Snap to account on completing the rollout this month, so it may not yet have reached every child's account. Ofcom also said Snap has recently confirmed that, by the end of 2026, highly effective age checks should have been applied so that all under-18s benefit from the new safety measures. Snap committed to stronger anti-grooming measures for UK children in May 2026 (see our earlier alert on Ofcom's anti-grooming commitments). We have not found a post about this change on Snap's own newsroom, so the detail here comes from Ofcom's statement, which refers to 'child users' and does not set out an age range for the Find Friends change itself.

What to Review

• •Do not assume the change has reached your child's account yet, because Ofcom says it will monitor the rollout through November. Look at your child's friend-suggestion and contact settings together.
• •Look through your child's friends list for anyone they do not know in real life, because a default setting cannot undo connections that have already been made.

Parent Actions