Meta has announced the launch of a new type of account within the WhatsApp application, designed for children under 13 years old, with full parental supervision tools aimed at enhancing safety and control over app usage. The new accounts, managed by parents, will allow children to use only the messaging and calling features, without access to the rest of the app's services or exposure to ads. The company explained that creating an account requires the presence of both the parent's and the child's device, and the two accounts are linked via a QR code to verify the setup. During the setup process, parents can enable alerts to monitor the account's activity, such as receiving a notification when the child adds, blocks, or reports a contact. Optional alerts can also be activated for changes in name or profile picture, receiving new chat requests, joining or leaving groups, or deleting a chat or contact. All supervision settings are protected by a six-digit PIN code that parents can set and modify from their own devices, preventing changes without their approval. The company confirmed that chats and calls in these accounts will remain protected by end-to-end encryption, the same security system used in all WhatsApp conversations. Users of these accounts will not be able to access a number of advanced features within the app, such as Meta AI, Channels, or the Status feature. They will also not be allowed to enable self-deleting messages in individual chats. When a message is received from someone not in the contacts list, a small notification will appear for the user, explaining some information about the sender, such as their country of residence and whether they have any groups in common. The app will also automatically blur images coming from unknown contacts, with the option to silence calls from unregistered numbers. All new chat requests will go to a separate folder within the app that can only be opened using the parent's PIN code.
