WhatsApp is introducing parental controls for teenagers, which give parents a range of options, such as notifications when their child joins or leaves a group. The tools will allow parents to decide on the privacy settings of their child's account.
In a blog post, WhatsApp explained that parents will not be given the ability to view messages sent or received by their teenager. Messages and calls will remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption. The company stated that these tools are optional.
Matt Navarra, a social media analyst, described the optional nature of these tools as 'a clear weakness'. He stated that the move was 'quite suitable' for Meta, the owner of WhatsApp. According to Navarra, this reduces the company's reliance on age verification by shifting responsibility to parents and teenagers.
'Meta is trying to show regulators that we have a system for child safety, we have parental controls and we are introducing them on all our platforms,' said Navarra. He added: 'I think the big unanswered question is whether enough families will actually use it.'
The minimum age for using WhatsApp in the United Kingdom is 13, although it is higher in some countries. According to the company, parents can adjust or turn off controls at any time. The settings will be 'easy to set up' using a PIN set by the parent, which will be required by teenagers if they wish to turn off the controls.
Some of the new privacy features include the ability to choose who can see the child's profile picture and who can add them to groups. Parents can also choose how their teenager uses Channels, which allows organisations and public figures to send content. They can choose between the default 13+ settings for Meta AI, the in-app AI assistant, or the stricter 'Restricted content' option.
The company stated: 'All these controls are designed to support open conversations about the use of WhatsApp between parents and teenagers, while maintaining the privacy of personal messages.'
In June, the government announced that it planned to ban social media for people under the age of 16, with the restrictions set to come into force in March 2027. The government stated that 'very effective age verification measures' would be used to check the age of social media users. WhatsApp is currently exempt from the ban as the government considers it a messaging service.
