“Meta” company issued an announcement regarding a new update that allows children who have not reached the age of thirteen to use the “WhatsApp” application, through accounts subject to the management and control of parents. This step comes amid mounting global pressure to strengthen children’s protection online.
The company indicated that parents or guardians will be able to create accounts for their children and link them to their personal accounts, giving them full control over their settings. These accounts will have limited functions, limited to sending messages and making calls, excluding features such as channels, statuses or artificial intelligence tools.
The company indicated that these accounts will include strict privacy settings by default, in addition to the ability to specify parties allowed to communicate with the child, in addition to monitoring activities within the application.
The updates also include additional control tools, such as alert notifications that reach parents when new contacts are added or join groups, in addition to protecting the account with a parental secret code, while preventing some sensitive features such as self-disappearing messages or sharing geographical location.
Meta confirmed that the conversations will remain fully encrypted, to preserve users’ privacy, despite the restrictions imposed on these accounts.
This trend comes in response to increasing demands to create a safer digital environment for children, in conjunction with a global trend towards tightening laws related to the use of social media platforms by minors.
The new feature is scheduled to be launched gradually in several countries, before it is rolled out globally in the coming months, in a step that represents a shift in WhatsApp’s policy that…
