A Guide to Snap’s Transparency Reports

What are Transparency Reports
and Why Do They Matter?
Snapchat is a visual communications app designed for people ages 13 and up. It is very popular  among teenagers, who primarily use it to talk with their close friends, similar to the ways othergenerations use text messaging or the phone. Our goal is to make Snapchat a safe and positive
experience for everyone, and we continually work to improve the safeguards and protections we  offer our community. 

As part of this goal, we publish “transparency reports” twice a year that provide data about the  content on our platform, including what is reported by our community as potentially harmful, and  
the enforcement actions we take. These reports include a lot of information, and we know they  
can sometimes feel challenging to understand for parents, caregivers and other stakeholders who  care deeply about the safety of our community.  

That’s why for the first time, we are creating this explainer guide to accompany our latest report 
so you can better understand how we compile these reports and easily compare what’s new acrossreporting categories.

2Safety on Snapchat
Safety on Snapchat starts with our Community Guidelines, which outline the types of content andbehaviors that are strictly prohibited across our whole platform. If you are a parent or caregiver for
example, it’s good to be aware of them and discuss them with your teen.  
We offer a number of in-app protections and safeguards, which you can learn more about here. To help
keep our community safe, we offer easy to use in-app reporting tools that Snapchatters can use to flag
content or an account that might violate our guidelines. Reporting is confidential – and you don’t needa Snapchat account to do it. We also offer online reporting tools that parents and other stakeholders
can use, which can be found here.  
Once we receive a report, our 24/7 global Trust and Safety team investigates the content or account inquestion to determine if it is a violation of our rules, and take appropriate action. If the content oraccount is a violation, we “enforce” against it, which can vary based on its severity. Our enforcement
actions can range from deleting a piece of content and warning the user, to deleting the account, orreferring the matter to law enforcement. While Snaps delete by default, we regularly support law
enforcement investigations and alert authorities when we learn of content suggesting an emergency
situation or that someone is at risk of imminent harm.

ReportManage Friendship

Why are you reporting Chris King? Your report is anonymousand important to help keep Snapchat and our community
safe. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local
authorities or emergency services - don’t wait.

ReportBlock

They’re posting inappropriate content

Remove Friend

They are pretending to be me

Edit Name
Done

They sent me spammy or suspicious
Snaps/Chats3

In each transparency report, we provide information about
The content that is reported to our Trust and Safety Teams as potential violations
What percentage of total content enforcements each category of violation comprises
How we respond to requests for assistance from law enforcement and government  organizations; andThe enforcement actions we take against Snapchatters who break our rules. 

We also provide detail on how we define our policies and various types of harmful content like  “sexual content,” “hate speech” or “bullying and harassment.” This, and all other terms used in  
the transparency report, can be found in our Transparency Report Glossary. 

Beyond simply reporting data, we also share insights into our safety principles, policies, and  
practices, as well as links to safety resources. Those resources can be found on our About  Transparency Reporting Page.   
You will see the full transparency report is broken into different sections. Here’s a quick overview  of the different categories and what each entails.

Overview of Content and Account Violations   This section breaks down the total amount of content and number of accounts globally that violated
our policies, which can lead us to remove content or terminate accounts. You can also see the “reason”
listed for each enforcement, which could include violations related to things like “drugs,” “harassmentand bullying,” “threats & violence” or more. We also include the turnaround time in minutes, which isthe amount of time it takes for our Trust & Safety team to respond to an in-app report of abuse. You  
can see the glossary for the full list of violating categories and terms in our report.

Analysis of Content and Account Violations  
This includes takeaways on how our data has changed since the previous reporting period. The goal isto call out major changes in data, and provide context as to why those changes may have occurred.  
For example, during the most recent reporting period, we introduced an update to our in-app reporting
menu which resulted in increases in our reporting and enforcement metrics.

4Combating Child Sexual Exploitation & Abuse  Preventing, detecting, and removing Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Imagery (CSEAI) is a toppriority and something we continuously work to prevent on our platform. You can see the number ofcontent and accounts we enforced related to CSEAI.

Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content 
We remove any terrorist and violent extremism content, and we work closely with law enforcement toaddress this type of content that may appear on our platform.

Self-harm and Suicide Content  
When our Trust & Safety team recognizes a Snapchatter in distress, they can forward self-harm 
prevention and support resources, and notify emergency response personnel where appropriate.  
The resources we share are available on our global list of safety resources, and these are publicly
available to all Snapchatters.

Country Overview  
Our Guidelines apply to all content on Snapchat — and all Snapchatters — across the globe, regardlessof location. This section provides an overview of the enforcement across each country we operate in,including the total number of accounts and content reports, the total number of enforcements, and thereasons for those enforcements.

Government Requests and Copyrighted Content Takedown Notices  A big part of making Snapchat safer is cooperating with law enforcement to fulfill valid requests for
information to assist in investigations. While most content on Snapchat deletes by default, we have  
the ability to preserve content existing in an account when law enforcement sends us a lawful request
for assistance with an investigation. In this section, we provide a breakdown of the types of requests  
we support from law enforcement including things like subpoenas and summons, court orders, search
warrants, and emergency disclosure requests.

5Additional Resources   We regularly work with leading experts to understand new risks and identify additional tools andresources that can better support Snapchatters. For more updates on our ongoing safety work and  
tips for families, please see below for additional resources.

Safety Center  
1

Snapchat is a platform for teens aged 13 and over, and we want to help both users andtheir parents understand how to use our app safely and critical protections they should  be aware of. Our Safety Hub includes insights into our safety policies, a list of safety
resources, guidance on how to report concerns on Snapchat, and resources for parentsand caregivers. Additionally, it includes information about the Snapchat Family Center,  
our system of parental controls.

Family Center  
2

Family Center is our in-app parental control tool, which helps parents get more  insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, and who they have beencommunicating with, without revealing any of the substance of those conversations.

Safety & Impact Blog  
3We have a dedicated blog that regularly shares news and educational information  
about our ongoing work to support the safety, privacy and well-being of our Snapchatcommunity.

Here for You  
4

5

To provide engaging and high-touch resources for our community, we have developed  
in-app tools like Here for You, which provides proactive in-app support to Snapchatters
who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis.

Heads Up  We provide in-app information and support to Snapchatters who search for drug-related
terms through our educational portal, Heads Up.

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