Jakarta, INTI - WhatsApp officially added a new feature for parents to monitor their children’s messaging activities. The parental control feature will help parents protect the safety of children under the age of 13 on digital platforms.
In a statement on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, WhatsApp said that the feature will let parents make WhatsApp accounts for their children with limited functions. The parents can control who their children are messaging, calling, and the groups they join.
How to Activate Parent-Managed WhatsApp Account
To activate this feature, both the parent/guardian and the child must have their own device, and then the parent can link their account to their child’s. After making and linking the child’s account, the parent can control and review message requests from unknown contacts and manage account privacy settings.
The parental controls and settings are restricted with a PIN on the parent-managed accounts.
All personal conversations stay private and protected with end-to-end encryption, which means no one, even WhatsApp, can see or listen to them.
The parental control feature will be available globally to provide more protection for pre-teens' user experience on digital platforms. The feature will be launched gradually in the coming months.
Conclusion
WhatsApp will gradually launch a parental control feature in the coming months. The feature will let parents link their account with their children’s and review unknown contacts who message and call them. Parental controls and settings are also restricted with a PIN. WhatsApp hopes that this feature will give more protection to the digital safety of children under the age of 13.
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