4 min learnNew DelhiUp to date: Mar 12, 2026 11:15 AM IST
Meta-owned WhatsApp on Tuesday, March 11, introduced new parent-managed accounts for under-13 customers. The brand new function offers dad and mom or guardians of pre-teen customers full management over who can contact them on WhatsApp and which teams they’re allowed to affix.
The newest parental controls are designed to restrict the WhatsApp expertise of under-13 customers to messaging and calling, the corporate mentioned in a weblog submit. After establishing a brand new parent-managed account, the father or mother or guardian will be capable of resolve who can contact the account and which teams they’ll be part of. Moreover, they’ll be capable of assessment message requests from unknown contacts and handle the account’s privateness settings.
The under-13 customers will be unable to entry and alter privateness settings. Moreover, these new parental controls and settings can solely be accessed after coming into a PIN on the managed gadget.
WhatsApp mentioned that parent-managed accounts shall be rolled out to all customers regularly. With a view to arrange these accounts, the person needs to be beneath 13 years of age or the minimal age required of their nation to make use of the platform. In the meantime, the father or mother or guardian needs to be older than 18. Dad or mum-managed accounts shall be rolled out on gadgets which have the newest model of WhatsApp for iPhone or Android.
The announcement by WhatsApp comes as governments all over the world transfer to ban or prohibit youngsters’s entry to social media in response to rising considerations over social media dependancy and on-line security of minors.
Earlier this month, Karnataka grew to become the primary Indian state authorities to ban social media use by youngsters beneath 16 in its newest Price range. Andhra Pradesh has additionally proposed banning social media for kids beneath 13 years inside the subsequent 90 days. Nonetheless, technical particulars about how such bans can be carried out stay unclear.
In the meantime, The Indian Specific reported that the central authorities is contemplating a extra nuanced and graded strategy in specifying restrictions for social media entry of under-18 youngsters as a substitute of a complete ban. In a considerably comparable stance, Meta has warned that blanket bans might have unintended penalties and advocated for parental oversight as a more practical strategy to managing youngsters’ digital exercise.
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In February 2025, Meta rolled out Instagram Teen Accounts in India with an identical strategy centered on enhanced privateness and parental controls. Accounts created by any Instagram person between the ages of 13 and 18 are categorised as Teen Accounts and their profiles are non-public by default. These accounts include a number of options designed to make the person expertise on Instagram safer, with the protections prolonged to Meta’s different platforms resembling Threads, Fb, and Messenger as effectively.
Easy methods to arrange parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp
First, dad and mom want to position the cellphone for use by the under-13 person and their very own gadget side-by-side as a way to hyperlink their WhatsApp accounts. To obtain WhatsApp in your youngster’s cellphone, observe these steps:
-Obtain WhatsApp Messenger within the Google Play Retailer or Apple App Retailer in your youngster’s gadget.
-Select your language and faucet Agree and proceed.
-Faucet Extra choices and choose Create a parent-managed account.
-Register and confirm your youngster’s cellphone quantity.
-Enter your youngster’s birthday and make sure their age.
-Faucet Proceed to hyperlink to a father or mother’s account.
Right here’s how one can hyperlink your youngster’s account out of your cellphone:
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-Scan the QR code displayed in your youngster’s gadget together with your cellphone’s digital camera and faucet the hyperlink to be taken to WhatsApp.
-Faucet Agree and proceed.
-Confirm you’re an grownup.
-Create a 6-digit father or mother PIN. (The PIN shouldn’t be shared together with your youngster, as per WhatsApp)
-Affirm your father or mother PIN > Subsequent.
-Faucet Completed and end account setup in your youngster’s gadget.
The final steps of account setup embrace coming into your father or mother PIN and choosing Proceed. As soon as that is finished, your youngster can enter their identify and add a profile picture for his or her managed account.