WhatsApp has announced a new set of optional parental controls for teenagers aged 13–17. Parents, carers and teenagers have to agree to link their accounts, after which parents and carers can manage some privacy settings and certain features using a PIN.

The new controls can include:

• managing who can see a teenager’s profile photo and who can add them to groups;
• alerts when a teenager joins or leaves a group, or when a group grows significantly;
• controls around Channels and Status;
• choosing between the standard 13+ Meta AI experience and a more restricted Limited Content option.

These features are still rolling out gradually, so we should start to see them fairly soon.

There has also been some confusion around WhatsApp for younger children. WhatsApp has separately developed parent-managed accounts for children under 13, focused mainly on messaging and calling with built-in parental supervision. However, these accounts are still being rolled out gradually and there has not yet been a full rollout outside of the US.

Below are some useful links for parents and carers:

Links:
WhatsApp – New Controls to Help Parents Guide Their Teens
WhatsApp Help Centre – Parental Controls
WhatsApp – Parent-Managed Accounts

Mr S Auckland
Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead