WhatsApp Launches New Parental Controls for Teen Accounts

WhatsApp is giving parents more control over how their teenagers use the messaging platform, without giving them access to private conversations.

Meta has announced new optional parental controls for WhatsApp, allowing parents and teens to configure privacy, groups, Status, Channels and Meta AI settings together. Parents can determine who can see their teen’s profile photo and who can add them to groups. Once configured, teens who want to loosen those restrictions will need parental approval using a parent-created PIN.

Parents won’t get access to the conversations themselves. WhatsApp says personal messages and calls remain protected by end-to-end encryption, meaning neither parents nor WhatsApp can read or listen to them. Instead, the controls provide broader information about how teens use the service.

Parents can receive alerts when their teen joins or leaves a group, for example, and when an existing group significantly increases in size. They can also control how their teen interacts with WhatsApp Channels and determine whose Status updates they can view and who can see theirs.

Meta is extending its teen-focused AI controls to WhatsApp. Parents can choose between the standard 13+ Meta AI experience or a more restrictive Limited Content setting. Limited Content is designed to further restrict the types of conversations teens can have with Meta AI.

The company has been steadily expanding these safeguards across its platforms. Earlier this year, Meta introduced AI Insights for parents in Canada, allowing parents supervising Teen Accounts to see general topics their teens had discussed with Meta AI during the previous seven days. Meta stresses that WhatsApp’s parental controls are entirely optional and can be adjusted or disabled by parents.

The company says this is only the beginning of its parental controls on WhatsApp, with additional features expected as it gathers feedback from families.