Snapchat’s Find Friends function will no longer be enabled by default on accounts of minors Uk. The deployment has already begun and Ofcom, the British online media and security regulator, confirmed it on Friday, November 6, 2026.
It is the platform contact discovery tool, which serves to locate and add to other people. When you turn it off, the app forces it to search for it and activate it expressly instead of offering it from the first login.
What changes with Snapchat Find Friends
Shutdown pursues a specific goal: make it difficult for unknown persons to locate and contact minors within the application. The tool puts related profiles on the tray from the user’s own data, something comfortable to make friends and delicate when the one looking for does not have good intentions.
The decision doesn’t come out of nowhere either. Snapchat promised to apply it in May, after the regulator put pressure on the big technology to strengthen the protection of younger users.
Ofcom’s age and margin check
The following exam has a date: Before the end of the year. The company has transferred the regulator that plans to introduce effective age verifications for those under 18 years of age before the end of 2026. How they will be applied technically is something that has not yet transpired.
Oliver Griffiths, director of Ofcom’s Online Safety Group, described the change as an important and, at the same time, long-standing advance. He also warned that the agency will demand that the deployment be complete this month.
Legal support is the Online Safety Act, which forces platforms to protect users from illegal and harmful content. In case of non-compliance, OFCOM can sanction with up to 18 million pounds or 10% of the company’s global computable turnover, the amount that is greater. The notice is aimed at the entire sector.
The data that explains the pressure
In May, Ofcom had already pointed out that 32% of British children between the ages of 8 and 12 used Snapchat, despite the fact that the minimum age of the platform is 13 years old. A relevant part of its child base is below the threshold that the company itself marks.
Added to this is an analysis of the 2025 NSPCC on British police data, which registered 7,263 crimes of sexual communication with minors, almost double the 3,728 of 2017/18. In 2,111 of the cases, the platform involved was identified and Snapchat concentrated 40%, compared to 9% of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram separately.
The regulator has stressed that online grooming can leave devastating and lifelong consequences for minors, and that technology companies that do not improve their protections will face compliance actions.
Snapchat’s answer
A company spokesman has maintained that they will continue to strengthen their protections as risks evolve and that they will collaborate with Ofcom, with security experts and with families and young people.
The ball is now on the calendar. Find Friends should be off by default on all affected accounts this month, and age checks, lists before the end of the year. Ofcom has already made it clear that he will review each step.
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Source: Engadget News
