Facebook Messenger parental controls have long been available for Messenger Kids – the special version of the chat app designed for children below 13 years of age – but not for teens. This has now changed, with parental controls coming to the main Messenger app when used by teens aged 13 to 18.
Separately, TikTok is integrating two existing filtering features after continuing concerns about showing inappropriate content to children – though as always, in a very weak way …
For children below 13, give them Messenger Kids
If you have children below the age of 13 and are happy for them to use messaging apps, then you should continue to install Messenger Kids on their devices.
This is a special version of the app that requires a parent or guardian to approve all contacts. That done, kids can message adults using the normal Messenger app – so they can be in touch with grandparents and other approved adults.
Additionally, if a child chooses to block someone in Messenger Kids, parents are notified so they check whether any further action is required.
Facebook Messenger parental controls for teens
Teens can use the standard Messenger app, but you should enroll them in Meta’s Family Center. This has already provided parental controls for Instagram and Meta Quest VR headsets, but as of today will also offer safety monitoring for Messenger. The initial rollout is to the US, UK, and Canada.
Messenger’s parental controls will not allow parents to read the actual messages sent to or from their teenage kids, but will now provide five forms of oversight:
- View how much time their teen spends on Messenger
- View and receive updates on their teen’s Messenger contacts list, as well as their teen’s privacy and safety settings
- Get notified if their teen reports someone (if the teen chooses to share that information)
- View who can message their teen (only their friends, friends of friends, or no one) – and see if their teen changes this setting
- View who can see their teen’s Messenger stories and get notified if these settings change
Meta says that additional features will be added later, as well as making parental controls available in more countries.
The company is also monitoring how long teens spend in the main Facebook and Instagram apps, and will automatically notify them when they’ve been using the app for 20 minutes, with a pop-up suggesting that it might be time for a break.
TikTok parental controls being expanded
TikTok is also boosting its parental controls, in an expansion of the Family Pairing feature introduced back in 2020. This allows parents to limit screen time, set a restricted mode to automatically block inappropriate content, and restrict use of direct messages.
The company last year allowed users to filter out videos by keyword or hashtag, but now parents and guardians are getting the ability to do this on behalf of their teens. Engadget reports:
The new controls essentially combine those two features, giving parents the option to remotely filter out videos from their kids accounts in For You or Following with specific words or hashtags. “We’re bringing this [content filtering] tool to Family Pairing to empower caregivers to help reduce the likelihood of their teen viewing content they may uniquely find jarring,” TikTok wrote.
But teens can again override
TikTok’s existing Family Pairing features already required kids to opt-in to allowing parental control, and the same is true of keyword and hashtag filtering: Teens can choose to disable these restrictions.
TikTok claims that this is to respect the rights of teens to make their own decisions, and promote discussion between teens and their caregivers, but the company again gives the impression that it simply wants to be seen to be taking action, while actually doing as little as possible.
Photo: Creative Christians/Unsplash
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