From now on: How you can know which WhatsApp group your child has joined

WhatsApp has launched new parental supervision tools for teen accounts, following a major lawsuit over young users' addiction. Parents will receive notifications when their child joins or leaves groups, can restrict AI usage, and manage viewing settings for channels and statuses, without compromising message encryption.

WhatsApp has launched a series of new supervision tools for teen accounts, following a major lawsuit that accused Meta of dangerous addiction among young users. The tools, launched yesterday (Wednesday), allow parents to receive direct notifications to their phone every time their child joins or leaves a group, as well as when an existing group grows significantly. Parents will be able to determine which channels their children watch, who sees their statuses, and which statuses of others they view. Another significant change concerns the use of Meta AI: parents can choose between a regular experience and a stricter 'limited content' setting, which restricts discussion topics and blocks features that rely on processing personal data. WhatsApp emphasizes that the tools do not allow reading text messages or listening to calls, which remain end-to-end encrypted. The new tools join previous supervision options for younger children and are protected by a dedicated parental PIN code. On iPhones, the settings are available under a dedicated 'Parental Controls' category.