WhatsApp, the messaging service run by Meta, is going to allow under-13s on its platform, as long as they have parental consent.
Parents will sign their children up to WhatsApp and then link their accounts with parental controls in place, in an update rolling out over the coming months.
The accounts must remain linked until the child’s 13th birthday, at which point, the parent can delay unlinking by up to 12 months.
The under-13s accounts will be restricted to calls and messaging only, and will not have access to Meta AI, the AI chatbot that works across Meta’s platforms, statuses or channels.
Parents will have control over who can contact their child, the groups they can join and their privacy settings.
Parents will not be able to see the contents of messages; however, communication on the accounts will remain end-to-end encrypted.
Disappearing messages will not be available for one-to-one conversations on the child’s account and parents will receive notifications if a WhatsApp group grows in size or someone turns off disappearing messages.
Sky News asked how WhatsApp planned to enforce age restrictions on young users and whether new age verification tools would be introduced.
We were told the young users’ accounts are set up and managed by the parent, and Meta thinks they are best placed to decide what age their child is ready for WhatsApp.
When Meta becomes aware that a user is under 13, it blocks the account and requires them to link to a parent or guardian to continue using WhatsApp, Sky News was told.
Meta said it did not have data on how many under-13s were already on WhatsApp but that the new accounts were requested by parents, who wanted their children to be on the platform safely.
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The minimum age for a WhatsApp account is 13, which is standard globally and under UK law, companies are not allowed to process the data of under-13s without their parents’ consent.
Last month, the Information Commissioner’s Office fined Reddit more than £14m for processing children’s data, after it found the US company did not have proper age checks in place to stop under-13s from using its platform.
Reddit is appealing the fine.
