Parental controls for teens on WhatsApp are coming worldwide, including in Italy. These are optional controls that parents can add to the existing account of a teenager over 13.
"Parents will be able to choose privacy settings for their teenagers, including who can see their profile picture or add them to groups," the platform explains. "If a teenager wants to change these settings, they will need to obtain parental approval via a PIN set by the parent." Even with these controls, "the teenager's personal messages and calls remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption."
This new feature joins the "teen accounts" already available on other Meta group apps—Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger—which are enabled by default for boys and girls aged 13 to 17, amid growing global concern about the safety and mental health of minors. "To stay informed about who their kids are connecting with," WhatsApp adds on parental controls, "parents receive a notification when their children join or leave a group, or when a group they're part of grows significantly larger. Parents will be able to choose how their children use channels, which status updates they can see, and who can see theirs. They can also choose the Meta AI experience best suited for their teenagers by choosing between the default 13+ setting and the more restrictive Restricted Content option."
Parental controls are "easy to set up," the Meta Group app emphasizes, and include "a single PIN and clear alerts to keep parents informed." And they're optional: "Parents choose the level of support their children need and can change or disable the controls at any time. Even with the controls enabled, teenagers' calls and personal messages remain private and protected by end-to-end encryption. No one outside the chat, not even WhatsApp, can see or listen to the content." "This is just the first step," the platform concludes. "We're developing these controls step by step, based on feedback from families. All these controls are designed to promote open conversations about how to use WhatsApp between parents and children, while respecting the privacy of everyone's personal messages."
