WhatsApp Just Launched Preteen Accounts (With Parental Controls)

If you have children under the age of 13, they will soon be able to have their own WhatsApp account for messaging and calling—but with heavy parent supervision. Users with parent-managed accounts can only message with saved contacts, and while preteens’ communication will still be end-to-end encrypted and private from parents, supervising adults will be notified about certain account activity and have the ability to approve or decline requests. According to Meta, this account type is rolling out gradually and globally.

How parent-managed accounts work for preteens

Managed accounts for WhatsApp users under 13 are limited to calling and texting with saved contacts and groups approved by parents. The built-in parental controls prevent access to many features of a regular WhatsApp account:

Meta AI

Channels

Status

Chat Lock

App Lock

Linked devices

Location sharing

View once messages

Disappearing messages in individual chats

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Only saved contacts are able to see preteens’ profile pictures and when they were last online. Parents have

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