WhatsApp has introduced parental control features aimed at making the app safer and more age-appropriate for teenagers. Through the new tools, parents will be notified whenever their child joins a group or leaves one. They will also be able to define a range of privacy settings for their child's account. The move comes as governments and regulators in several countries step up pressure on technology companies to ensure a safe and age-appropriate online environment for children.

With WhatsApp's parental controls, parents can decide who is allowed to see their child's profile picture and who may add the child to groups. They can also shape how their child uses the Channels feature. Crucially, the new tools do not give parents access to their child's private messages; messages sent or received by the child remain private, and the same rule applies to phone calls. Even with parental controls enabled, teenagers' messages and calls stay protected by end-to-end encryption.

Parents can also use the parental control feature to manage their child's access to Meta AI, WhatsApp's artificial intelligence assistant, by choosing the “Limited Content” option instead of the default “13+” setting. WhatsApp has stressed that using parental controls is not mandatory. Parents may disable the feature at any time, but teenagers cannot switch it off on their own.

Because the parental control feature is optional, social media analyst Matt Navarra has questioned how effective it will be. In his view, the arrangement may suit Meta, as it could reduce some of the company's age-verification workload. It also places part of the responsibility for teenagers' online safety on parents and users themselves.

Source: BBC