WhatsApp introduces optional parental controls for teenagers

WhatsApp is introducing new parental controls for teenagers, as tech companies continue to come under pressure to provide more age-appropriate experiences for children.

The social messaging app's new tools will give parents a range of options, such as being told when their child joins or leaves a group. It will also let them decide on privacy settings for their account.

In a blog post, WhatsApp, clarified parents would not be given the power to see the messages their teen is sending and receiving, which along with calls would stay private and protected by end-to-end encryption.

And it said the controls were optional, which social media analyst Matt Navarra called an "obvious weakness".

He said the move was "fairly convenient" for Meta, which owns WhatsApp, because it reduced the company's reliance on age verification by putting some responsibility on parents and teenagers.

"Meta is trying to show regulators we have a child safety system, we have parental controls and we're rolling it out across our platforms," he said.

"I think the big unanswered question is whether enough families will actually use it."

The minimum age to use WhatsApp is 13 in the UK, although it is higher in some countries.