WhatsApp Introduces New Parental Controls for Teenagers

WhatsApp is introducing new parental controls for teenagers as technology companies face growing pressure to provide safer, more age-appropriate experiences for children.

What WhatsApp’s New Parental Controls Offer

The new WhatsApp tools give parents more options for managing their teenagers’ privacy and activity on the messaging app. Parents can receive notifications when their child joins or leaves a group and adjust privacy settings for the account.

Parents can also choose who can see their child’s profile photo and who can add them to WhatsApp groups. They can control how their teenagers use channels, where organizations and celebrities can submit content.

Another option allows parents to choose between Meta AI’s default 13+ settings, WhatsApp’s optional built-in AI assistant, or the stricter “Restricted Content” setting.

Teenagers’ Messages and Calls Remain Private

WhatsApp said in a blog post that parents will not be able to view the messages their teenagers send or receive. Their calls will also remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption.

The company said the controls are voluntary, and parents can adjust or turn them off at any time. The settings are designed to be “easy to set up” using a PIN created by the parent. The PIN is required if the teenager attempts to turn off the controls.

Expert Questions Whether Families Will Use the Features

Social media analyst Matt Navarra called the voluntary nature of the controls a “clear weakness.”

He said the move was “quite convenient” for Meta, which owns WhatsApp, because it reduced the company’s reliance on age verification by placing some responsibility on parents and teenagers.

“Meta is trying to demonstrate to regulators that we have child safety systems in place, we have parental controls in place, and we are rolling that out across our platform,” he said.

“I think the big unanswered question is whether enough families will actually use it.”

WhatsApp’s Minimum Age and UK Social Media Restrictions

The minimum age to use WhatsApp is 13 in the UK, although it is higher in some countries.

The new controls come amid increasing pressure from governments and regulators for technology companies to change how they operate and better protect children who use their platforms.

In June, the government announced plans to ban under-16s from social media platforms, with the restrictions set to come into effect in March 2027. It said “very effective age assurance” measures would be introduced to verify social media users’ ages.

WhatsApp is currently exempt from the ban because the government considers it a messaging service.

WhatsApp said the controls are designed to support open conversations between parents and teenagers about app use while keeping everyone’s personal messages private.