How to set up parental controls on each of your child’s social media accounts

Most social media platforms have a minimum age requirement of 13

Dubai: Did you know that if your child is not yet 13, they should not be on any of the major social media platforms? That is because the minimum age requirement for a user to create an account on many platforms is set at 13, but according to a new guidebook by Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), children may misrepresent their age, as users can simply enter an age at the time of creating an account, to bypass the requirement.

Even so, being aware of what your children are watching, and controlling which type of content they can access, is extremely important to protect them from potential dangers.

The ‘Parental Control guidebook’, which was published last month, provides details of the most popular social media platforms, their risks and advantages as well as steps that parents can take to protect children from bullying or inappropriate content.

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Why you need to set up parental controls

Most of the popular social media channels provide parents with the option to activate parental controls, to help them manage their child's online experience. These controls can limit what content your child can see, who they can interact with, and how much time they can spend on the platform.

Before you begin, remember that you would need to have an email address set up for your child, which can be the address you use to set up their social media accounts.

Here is how you can activate this feature on the following platforms:

Facebook

Facebook has a feature called ‘family centre’, that allows parents to view the profiles they supervise on Facebook and Messenger and manage supervision settings. To set up this feature, follow these steps:

1. Go to your profile on the bottom right of the page.
2. Click on the setting option on the top right of the page, or scroll down and click on ‘settings’ under ‘Settings and privacy’.
3. Click on ‘supervision’.
4. Activate ‘Family centre’ by creating an invite with your teen.

Instagram

A similar feature is also available on Instagram, with the option of ‘supervision’. According to Facebook, the parent company of Instagram, “supervision is a set of tools and insights that parents and guardians can use to help support their teens under 18 on Instagram. Supervision is optional, and both the parent and the teen must agree to participate”.

To activate, follow these steps:

1. Click on your profile on the bottom right of the page.
2. Click on settings on the top right of the page.
3. Scroll down and click on supervision.
4. Activate Family Centre by inviting your teen to join.

Another way Instagram Users can manage their privacy is ensuring they have a private account, posting on ‘close friends’ only, and controlling their messages, by not allowing other users to send them direct messages. In order to disable the direct messages option on your Instagram account, go to ‘privacy’ and select ‘messages’ and then under ‘other people’ select the ‘others on Instagram’ option, and select ‘don’t receive requests’.

TikTok

The ‘family pairing’ feature on TikTok allows parents, guardians, and teens to customise their safety settings. A parent or guardian can link their TikTok account to their teen's account and set controls, including daily screen time.

1. Click on profile on the bottom right of the page.
2. Click on setting on the top right of the page and then click on ‘settings and privacy’.
3. Scroll down and click on ‘family pairing’ under ‘content and display’.
4. Click on the parent option.
5. Activate family pairing by sending an invite to your teen’s account.

How to set a daily screen time

1. Under ‘Settings and Privacy’, tap ‘Screen time’ and then ‘Daily screen time’.
2. Set a time limit between 40 to 120 minutes. Create a passcode to lock in these settings.

Snapchat

According to Snapchat, their ‘Family Centre’ feature helps parents get more insight into who their teens are friends with on Snapchat, and who they have been communicating with, while still respecting their teens’ privacy and autonomy.

Here is how you can set it up:

1. Search relevant terms such as “safety”, “family” or “parent” and Family Centre will appear.
2. Once you open Family Centre, you will need to invite your teenaged son or daughter to join.
3. They will receive an invitation card, and they must accept to participate.
4. Once they have accepted, you can use Family Centre to view their friends, see who they are talking to, and report abuse.

YouTube

YouTube Kids which is a dedicated children’s app makes it safer and easier for children to find videos on topics they want to explore.

Open the YouTube kids app and sign in with your account. Create your child’s profile by selecting their age category, which will control the type of content the child is able to view.