WhatsApp is introducing new parental controls for teenagers as technology companies face growing pressure from governments and regulators to provide age-appropriate experiences for children.
The new tools will allow parents to receive notifications when their child joins or leaves a group and decide on privacy settings for their account, reports BBC.
However, parents will not be able to access their teenager’s sent or received messages. Messages and calls will remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption, WhatsApp said in a blog post.
Parents will be able to adjust or switch off the optional controls at any time. The settings are designed to be “straightforward to set up” using a parent-set PIN, which teenagers will need if they want to disable the controls.
The privacy options include deciding who can view a teenager’s profile photo and who can add them to groups.
Parents will also be able to control how their teenager uses Channels, a feature that allows organisations and public figures to broadcast content. They can also choose between the default 13+ setting for Meta AI, WhatsApp’s optional built-in AI assistant, and a stricter “Limited Content” option.
“All of these controls are being designed to support open conversations about how to use WhatsApp between parents and teens, while keeping everyone’s personal messages private,” the company said.
However, social media analyst Matt Navarra described the optional nature of the controls as an “obvious weakness”.
He said the move was “fairly convenient” for Meta, which owns WhatsApp, as it reduces the company’s reliance on age verification by placing responsibility on parents and teenagers.
“Meta is trying to show regulators we have a child safety system, we have parental controls and we’re rolling it out across our platforms,” Navarra said.
“I think the big unanswered question is whether enough families will actually use it,” he added.
The minimum age for using WhatsApp is 13 in the UK, although it is higher in some countries.
The changes come amid wider regulatory action. In June, the government announced plans to ban under-16s from social media platforms, with the restrictions expected to take effect in March 2027 using “highly effective age assurance” measures.
WhatsApp is currently excluded from the proposed ban because the government classifies it as a messaging service.
