WhatsApp is introducing optional parental controls that enable parents or guardians to determine certain privacy settings for accounts belonging to teenagers. The company said the new option will let adults decide aspects of a young person’s account privacy, although participation is voluntary.
Overview
The controls are aimed specifically at teenage users and are designed to give families more influence over how a child’s profile appears and who can contact them on the messaging service. WhatsApp framed the change as a tool for parents to manage another layer of online safety for minors who use the app.
Industry context
The move follows a broader trend among social platforms to add family-focused controls as regulators and parents press for better protections for young users online. Messaging apps and social networks have in recent years been experimenting with ways to balance child safety, parental oversight and user privacy.
Privacy and safety considerations
While WhatsApp calls the feature optional, the introduction of parental controls is likely to prompt discussion about the balance between parental authority and teenagers’ expectation of privacy. Advocates for digital privacy and child welfare groups often differ on how much control adults should have over an adolescent’s online interactions.
What comes next
WhatsApp has not provided additional detail about the specific settings parents will be able to change or how the controls will be implemented. The company is expected to publish more information as it rolls the feature out, including guidance for families on using the new options.