WhatsApp Introduces Parent-Managed Accounts for Children Under 13

Overview

• Parents can approve who messages their child and which groups the child can join, with messages from unknown numbers routed to a Requests folder by default.
• Guardians receive activity alerts such as new contact requests, group joins or exits, and profile changes, and they can set which notifications to get.
• Privacy controls are locked with a parent PIN on the managed device, and only the parent or guardian can change those settings.
• Conversation contents remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so neither parents nor WhatsApp can read or listen to messages.
• Child accounts exclude features including Meta AI, Channels, Status, locked chats, app lock, linked devices, location sharing, view-once media, and disappearing messages, and setup requires side-by-side device linking with the latest app version.