Meta expands Threads parental controls for teenagers
Parents can now limit how long teens spend on Threads
Meta is expanding parental supervision on Threads with new tools that allow parents and guardians to monitor activity, set screen-time limits and manage privacy settings for teenage users.
The tools will begin rolling out in the United States next week through Meta’s Family Center. They build on the company’s existing Teen Accounts, which provide private profiles and restrictions on potentially sensitive content by default.
Parents will be able to view a teenager’s Threads usage over the previous seven days, including average daily screen time, set daily usage limits and block access during selected hours or days.
The restrictions apply across devices, while supervision also extends to overnight use through sleep mode, which mutes notifications and enables automatic replies between 10 pm and 7 am by default.
Parents can also manage who is allowed to tag teenagers in posts and approve changes to selected privacy and sensitive-content settings.
For users under 16, parents may decide whether default Teen Account protections can be relaxed.
Meta said the expanded supervision tools are intended to provide families with a single place to manage teenage experiences across its apps and that additional features will be introduced over time.
The controls can be activated through Meta’s Family Center once supervision has been established between a parent and teenager.
Why does it matter?
The expanded supervision tools reflect growing pressure on social media platforms to provide parents with greater oversight of children’s online experiences. Features such as screen-time limits, overnight restrictions and stronger privacy controls are increasingly becoming standard expectations rather than optional additions.
The effectiveness of these measures, however, will depend on accurate age verification, teenagers’ ability to circumvent restrictions and the extent to which parental controls are complemented by platform-wide safety measures. The announcement also reflects a wider regulatory trend, with governments increasingly expecting platforms to offer stronger protections for younger users.
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