Today WhatsApp announced new rules in its terms of service. As always with the messaging app, users will have to accept the new regulations if they do not want their accounts to be suspended. Broadly speaking, the new rules aim to comply with the Digital Market Act (DMA), new European legislation that will regulate big tech companies.
But a small innovation also risks arousing the curiosity of users, especially those with teenage children at home. WhatsApp even announced that it has lowered the minimum age required to create an account on its platform. In Europe this is only 16 years old. On April 11, this number will increase to 13, as in Meta’s other social networks, Facebook and Instagram.
It will soon be possible to create a WhatsApp account from the age of 13
Therefore, we will not be surprised to see Meta bring WhatsApp to the same level as its other applications. The company officially talks about the need for “consistency” for non-European users. As a matter of fact, if they are under the age of 16, they can no longer use the application once in the Old Continent. But of course this is all purely theoretical.
Because there’s actually nothing right now to stop a 14-year-old from creating an account on WhatsApp by lying about his date of birth. The messaging service never verifies the age of the user and therefore will never prevent a child from using the service. Moreover, lowering the minimum age requirement is only a formality. If you want to prevent your child from going to WhatsApp, it is best to check whether the application is installed on his smartphone.
