WhatsApp rolls out new feature for teens: What parents need to know

WhatsApp is rolling out new safety measures for teenagers as tech companies face growing demands to deliver age-appropriate experiences for children.

The new tools will give parents a wide variety of options such as being notified when their child joins or leaves a group, as well as helping them manage data preferences for their account.

In the new announcement, WhatsApp clarified parents would not be granted the authority to read the messages their teen sends and receives. This feature also applies to calls which remain private and secured by end-to-end encryption.

According to social media analyst Matt Navarra, this move was fairly convenient which owns WhatsApp because it diminished the company’s reliance on age verification by shifting some responsibility by parents and teenagers.

He stated, “ 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.”

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

The firm further clarified that parents will allow parents to manually take control and override automated settings at any moment. The settings will be straightforward to set up using a PIN set by a parent to deactivate parental controls. Some of the new privacy tools include customizable parental controls.

Parents can also choose how their teenager uses Channels, allowing organizations and public figures content. They will have the option of choosing between the default 13+ setting for Meta AI.

A statement from the company reads: “The changes come as pressure mounts on tech companies from governments and regulators to change the way they operate in order to better protect children using their platforms.”

Furthermore, the changes come as scrutiny intensifies from governments and regulators, pressuring tech companies to overhaul their operational models to enhance child safety.