Snapchat introduces new parental controls

(Santa Monica, CA) -- Snapchat is launching a parental control feature that allows parents to keep an eye on who their young teens have been chatting with.

The new in-app feature called Family center shows parents their kids' friend list, as well as who they've messaged over the last week.

Although the app has implemented safety features in the past, these are first-of-its-kind tools and are completely voluntary. Parents can only see who their teens have been talking to, but they won't be able to read their chat history.

Snap promised to introduce new parental controls and other features designed to protect underage users on its service last year.