Parental controls

Tech companies, particularly Meta, face intense legal and regulatory pressure regarding child safety on their platforms. This pressure includes a recent settlement with 29 US states and a court order to pay 567 million dollars in a New Mexico child safety case. In response, companies are rolling out new parental controls and safety tools. In October 2026, Meta launched artificial intelligence tools designed to detect ads that secretly direct users to illegal child exploitation content elsewhere. This follows Meta taking action on 33.2 million pieces of child exploitation content in early 2026. Prior to this, in September 2026, WhatsApp introduced parental controls that allow guardians to monitor teen interactions and manage Meta AI content settings. These WhatsApp settings require a parent-created PIN, which teens must approve to modify. Additionally, in May 2026, Instagram added parental notifications for teen interests, while Apple also introduced new parental controls. These features aim to address sophisticated evasion tactics and protect younger users while navigating ongoing legal scrutiny.