New Safety Feature: WhatsApp Launches Parent-Controlled Accounts for Pre-Teens

The messaging app WhatsApp has announced the addition of a new feature, which will allow parents or guardians to manage their children’s use of the app more effectively. This feature will be applicable to pre-teens, i.e., those children who are yet to reach the age of 13. According to the Meta-owned instant messaging app, parent-managed accounts will be rolled out in the coming months. It claims this feature was developed with feedback from family and safety experts, with the aim of creating a more controlled environment for children under 13 who are starting to use WhatsApp's messaging service.

The parent-managed account, which WhatsApp has introduced, is a new type of WhatsApp account that will be applicable to children below the age of 13. The messaging app has mentioned on its blog, “A parent-managed account is an account created and managed by parents or guardians, which is connected to the parents' own WhatsApp account.”

According to WhatsApp, parent-managed accounts have stricter privacy defaults and limited functionality than standard accounts. They are limited to private messaging and voice calls, allowing younger users to connect only with family members and trusted contacts. Furthermore, there are also restrictions on which groups a child can join.

The parent-managed account will not allow the user to use certain features, such as status updates, channels, or Meta AI, and will not enable the user to use disappearing messages in one-on-one conversations.

Unknown contacts are filtered into a message requests folder, which can only be accessed using a parent PIN. Parents are also notified when their child adds, blocks, or reports a contact, keeping them informed of their child's activity on the platform.

Despite these restrictions, WhatsApp says accounts will offer the same end-to-end encryption protection used across the platform, ensuring that conversations remain private.

WhatsApp says that parents who want to introduce their child to the messaging app can create a parent-managed account during the registration process. During sign-up, they will see the option to set up a parent-managed account by entering the pre-teen's date of birth. The setup process will require both the parent and child's phones to link the accounts.

Parents will also need to confirm they are an adult, which may include verifying their identity via a selfie during the setup process. Once setup is complete, the parent or guardian can manage their child's account through the available parental controls and privacy settings.

WhatsApp stated that this feature will roll out globally in the coming months, although initial availability may vary by region.