Today, messaging platform WhatsApp is announcing new parental controls for teens – a set of flexible, optional tools that parents and teens can set up together to help families choose the WhatsApp experience that’s right for them.
For the first time parents will be able to:
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Help to choose the right privacy settings for their teen, like who can see their profile photo or add them to groups. If a teen wants to relax any of those settings, they’ll need their parent’s approval via a parent-set PIN.
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Stay on top of who their teen is connecting with by choosing to get notifications for when their teen joins or leaves a group, or when a group grows in size.
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Decide on the Meta AI experience that’s right for their family and how they can interact with the Channels and Status features on WhatsApp.
All of these controls are being designed to support open conversations about WhatsApp between parents and teens, not to monitor their chats.
Parents choose how much support their teen needs, and can adjust or switch them off at any time. Even with controls turned on, the teen’s personal messages and calls stay private and protected by end-to-end encryption. No one, not even WhatsApp, can see or hear them.
