Meta company launches a dedicated WhatsApp account for children under full parental supervision

The WhatsApp application, which is considered the main means of communication for more than 3 billion people worldwide, officially changed its policy last Wednesday. Until now, the terms of use limited the minimum age to 13 and older, although in practice many children used the app to keep in touch with family members.

The company made it clear that the new accounts will focus solely on messages and conversations, and assured that the young users will not be the target of advertisements of any kind. The process of setting up such an account requires the physical presence of the parent and the child together, when the parent connects the devices by scanning a code and choosing a six-digit secret code. This code is the main tool that prevents the child from changing settings or approving contacts without their parents’ knowledge.

As part of the new mechanism, parents will receive real-time notifications about various operations carried out in the managed account. By default, the system will send an update every time the child adds a new contact, blocks a user or reports offensive content.

Parents can choose to tighten supervision and receive alerts even in cases where the child changes their profile picture, joins a new group, or when one of the participants in the group activates the disappearing messages option. Any such change requires the parent’s approval through the previously defined personal code. The company stated that this control is essential to give parents peace of mind as they give their children their first digital independence.

Despite these restrictions, the company emphasized that all conversations and messages remain end-to-end encrypted, so that even WhatsApp itself cannot read their content. The children will receive additional protection in the form of information cards that will appear when they receive a contact from a person who is not on their contact list. The card will display information about the country from which the message was sent and whether this contact has groups in common with the child.

One of the most significant tools in this version is the handling of pictures and conversations from strangers. The system will automatically blur images that are sent from unknown numbers, and will allow calls from such numbers to be completely silenced. Each new chat request or group invitation will be concentrated in a separate folder that will be locked behind the parent’s secret code.

Only after the parent examines the details of the group, including the number of participants and the identity of the manager, will he be able to approve the joining. When the child reaches the age of 13, he will receive a message informing him that the account can be turned into a normal one, although the parents will be given the option to extend the supervision period by an additional 12 months if they wish.

Meta’s move comes against the backdrop of heavy international pressure from countries such as Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, which are working to completely ban access of children under a certain age to social networks. Although WhatsApp is not defined as a classic social network but as a messaging application, regulators around the world are examining the impact of its use on the mental health and safety of minors.

The company hopes that the new model will provide a suitable compromise between the children’s need for modern communication and the obligation to protect them from the dangers of the network. The deployment of the service began in selected countries and is expected to expand to all users in the coming months. This is a significant change in the company’s policy, as it openly admits for the first time that children under the age of 13 are an integral part of its target audience, and adapts its technological infrastructure to the reality where 90% of children in Western countries are exposed to screens at a very young age.