WhatsApp adds new parental controls for teen accounts

The new controls let parents limit how teens use channels, control whose Status updates they can see and who can see their own, and manage who can add teens to groups or view their profile picture. Parents can also opt to get a notification when a teen joins a new group, leaves one, or when a group’s size grows to 30, 100, or 250 members. All of these settings sit behind a PIN set by parents, so a teen needs parental approval to change anything, and guardians can turn the controls off entirely.

Beyond those settings, parents can also set content limits for Meta AI: a default 13+ option, or a stricter “Limited Content” setting that disables private-processing features like incognito chat and message summaries. WhatsApp said that despite the new controls, messages and calls on the app remain end-to-end encrypted and that no one can see them.

The rollout comes as Meta faces continued legal pressure over child safety. The company has been on the receiving end of several lawsuits accusing its social media products of causing harm to children, and lawmakers have pressed Meta — and Instagram in particular — on delays in launching teen safety features. In August, Meta agreed to pay an $18 billion fine to settle a lawsuit brought by 29 U.S. states.

Meta has been expanding child-protection features across its apps this year: it has rolled out movie rating-inspired content controls, launched parental controls for interactions with Meta AI, added pre-teen accounts on WhatsApp, and started alerting parents when their children search for self-harm content on Instagram.

Why it matters

The controls arrive as Meta tries to get ahead of regulatory and legal scrutiny over teen safety before it results in more costly settlements like the $18 billion deal in August.