Settings inside the apps themselves

When the operating-system settings do not reach the place the child actually spends time, the next layer sits one tap deeper: inside the app itself.

YouTube has Restricted Mode. TikTok, Snapchat, Discord, Instagram, WhatsApp, Meta, Roblox, Fortnite, Minecraft, ChatGPT and Character.AI all carry some form of parent-facing control. The settings are not uniform. Some are hidden behind a teen-accepted link. Some require a government-ID check of the parent. Some do not exist at all.

This article explains, for each of those services, where the setting lives, what it does, and what it does not do.

It also explains the most common reason a parent reads this page: the setting they used last month is no longer where it was.

Why this matters

Two facts drive this page.

The first is that operating-system controls have limits. Apple’s Screen Time reports on the apps the child opens, but it cannot read what is happening inside them [source: wirecutter-parental-controls]. Android’s Family Link covers the device, but not the in-app behaviour of every third-party app on the device.

The second is that children use these apps at scale.

In Germany, 73% of 6- to 13-year-olds use WhatsApp weekly. 42% of the same age group use TikTok regularly. This is despite TikTok’s 13+ terms of service [source: mpfs-kim2024].

Among 12- to 19-year-olds in Germany, WhatsApp is regular use for 96%. Instagram for 63%. Snapchat for 56%. TikTok for 53% [source: mpfs-jim2025].

In the US, 73% of 13- to 17-year-olds report daily YouTube use [source: www-pew-teens-2024].

The volume makes the in-app settings worth understanding.

The article covers what is documented in the service’s own help centre. That is transcribed into the wiki’s UI-string resource (ui-strings/app.*.yaml).

Where the source has no app version, the article says so.

A setting that is reported only in a press release, only in a social post, or only in third-party media is not in this article.

For example, Twitch announced parental controls for teens 13 to 17 in a support announcement dated 2026-07-20. The official help-centre article was not located during the research window. Twitch is mentioned here only to flag the gap [source: x-twitch-pc].

Pinterest, Telegram and Signal are documented as having no parent-facing control surface. They are listed under What these settings do not cover.

Prerequisites

In-app controls do not stand alone. They are a layer over, or under, the device-level setting. This page assumes you already have one of the following in place; if you do not, the linked articles walk through it.

• An iPhone or Android device running a recent OS version.

  The exact version is app-dependent. This article was checked against help pages retrieved on 2026-08-16.

• A Screen Time passcode (iOS) or Family Link parent account (Android) set up so that the device-level limits actually apply.

  Without them the in-app controls are settings the child can remove at the device layer [source: apple-screen-time] [source: google-family-link-getting-started].

• A Family Sharing group on iOS, or a Microsoft Family Safety group for cross-platform services.

  The parent device has a separate identity from the child’s.

• An adult Microsoft account for the parent for any Xbox- or Minecraft-controlled device [source: microsoft-ms-family-safety].

• For Roblox, Fortnite/Epic, and ChatGPT, an account on the parent’s device with the relevant app installed.

  Reason: the parent side of the setup lives in that app or on that web portal [source: roblox-pc] [source: epic-cabined] [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

• A willingness to redo the configuration after app updates.

  This is the subject of the If a setting disappeared after an update section below. It is the single most common reason a parent reads this page twice.

Steps

Each subsection below is a different service. Each lists the path inside the app, what the setting does, and what it does not.

The path strings are kept in the wiki’s UI-string resource so the article does not go out of date when a label is renamed. The resource entry is named in backticks after each path.

YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids is the standalone, content-rated YouTube client for children. The setup runs on the device that the child uses, with a parent passcode that is either a multiplication problem or the parent’s passcode depending on how the app was installed [source: google-youtubekids].

1. Open YouTube Kids on the child’s device.
2. Tap the lock icon and pass the parent gate.
3. Choose the child’s profile, then tap EDIT SETTINGS. The path is app.youtube-kids.parental_controls.
4. Pick a content level: Preschool (4 and under), Younger (5 to 8), Older (9 to 12), or Approve content yourself [source: google-youtubekids].
5. Set a timer, choose whether search is on, decide whether autoplay continues to the next video, and clear or pause watch and search history if you want a clean starting point.

What it covers: the content level, search access, autoplay, the timer, and the ability to block individual channels or videos.

What it does not cover: a child can still use the regular YouTube app or the YouTube website. YouTube Kids does not block those. A device-level limit on installing or opening other apps is what stops the bypass [source: wirecutter-parental-controls].

YouTube (supervised account, 13+)

When a child is past the YouTube Kids age band, the relevant YouTube surface is the supervised Google account. It is managed through Family Link and surfaced inside the YouTube app as Family Center [source: google-yt-supervised].

1. From a Family Link parent account, invite the teen to a supervised Google account.
2. On the teen’s device, open YouTube, then tap the account You icon.
3. Tap Settings, then Family Center. The path is app.youtube.supervised.family_center.
4. Configure content level, blocked channels, history controls, autoplay, and Shorts daily limit. The restricted-mode toggle is inside the content-level area; the exact sub-menu label was not captured, see app.youtube.restricted_mode in the resource.

What it covers: content levels, blocked channels, history, autoplay, a Shorts feed daily limit, and bedtime or break reminders.

What it does not cover: the supervised-account status can be tied to Family Link. But the teen can request to graduate the account to unsupervised at 13, 16 or 18 depending on region [source: google-yt-supervised].

The exact list of countries in which supervised accounts are live is not enumerated in the help page.

The availability of the controls depends on that list.

TikTok (Family Pairing)

TikTok’s family surface is Family Pairing. It is a two-sided link that either party initiates and the other confirms [source: tiktok-family-pairing].

1. On both devices, install TikTok and create or sign in to an account.
2. On the parent’s device, open Profile, tap the Menu ☰ button, then Settings and privacy, then Family Pairing. The path is app.tiktok.family_pairing.
3. Choose to pair as the parent; the app produces a QR code or an in-app request to the teen.
4. On the teen’s device, accept the request and confirm the pairing on their side.

Inside Family Pairing, the parent sets: screen-time limits, restricted mode (the content filter), direct-message permissions, search discoverability, and who can comment on the teen’s videos.

The inner-panel labels for the screen-time and direct- message sub-panels are not separately transcribed. They live as app.tiktok.screen_time and app.tiktok.privacy_dm in the resource.

What it covers: time limits, restricted-mode content filtering, DM permissions, search discoverability and comment permissions.

What it does not cover: TikTok’s own help page does not address whether these settings survive an app reinstall or a fresh account.

Removing the app and reinstalling it has been reported as breaking pairing. This is documented in forums, not in TikTok’s own help centre, so the wiki does not assert it as durable [source: tiktok-family-pairing].

A teen can increase but cannot decrease restrictions set by the parent [source: tiktok-family-pairing].

Instagram (Teen Accounts and Family Center)

For teens 13 to 17 on Instagram, the relevant surface is the default Teen Account. Meta’s Family Center is the supervision add-on [source: meta-teen2] [source: meta-teen3].

1. The teen’s Instagram account is flagged as a Teen Account by Meta when the birthday entered at signup falls in the 13-to-17 range.
2. Defaults are private accounts, restricted DMs, sleep mode between 22:00 and 07:00, a 60-minute daily use reminder, and content filtering inspired by 13+ ratings [source: meta-teen2].
3. To supervise rather than just use the defaults, the parent sets up supervision from inside the teen’s Instagram app: Profile → Menu → Family Center → Supervision for Teen Accounts. The path is app.meta-teen.family_center.
4. Once both sides accept, the parent’s view shows screen time, the list of accounts the teen follows or is followed by, and topic categories of Meta AI interactions, capped at ten categories per week [source: meta-ai-insights].

What it covers: defaults on the teen’s account plus a parent-side dashboard of time, social graph, and broad AI topic categories.

What it does not cover: the parent does not see the actual DM content. The parent also does not see the actual Meta AI prompts or responses. Only ten or fewer topic categories per week are visible [source: meta-ai-insights].

The supervision requires teen acceptance. The teen can later request removal; Meta acknowledges regional rollout gating without naming which countries are live [source: meta-teen3].

Snapchat (Family Center)

Snapchat’s family surface is Family Center. It is built around seeing who the teen interacts with, not what they say [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].

1. The teen opens Snapchat, taps the gear (Settings) icon, then Family Center. The path is app.snapchat.family_center. Alternatively, the teen can search family, safety or parent inside the app [source: snapchat-snap-fc-find].
2. The teen invites the parent; the parent installs Snapchat on their device and accepts the invite.
3. Both sides must add each other as friends for the link to complete.

Inside Family Center the parent sees: the teen’s recent chat partners (not message content) over the last seven days.

The parent also sees new friends, group members, location via Snap Map, place alerts, a sensitive-content limit toggle, the ability to disable My AI for the teen, and the teen’s privacy settings (birthdate visibility, public profile, location sharing) [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].

Snapchat publishes a German-language parent page that is a native translation. The in-app screen title stays Family Center in English on the DE locale [source: snapchat-snap-fc-de].

What it covers: who, where, and what categories of content the teen sees. It also covers visibility into the teen’s own privacy settings.

What it does not cover: message content, by design. Snapchat states this explicitly: without reading messages [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].

The link is opt-in on both sides. The teen can decline the invite.

WhatsApp (parent-managed accounts)

WhatsApp’s parent surface is parent-managed accounts.

It is intended for under-13 users in most countries (or under the local minimum age) [source: whatsapp-pma1].

1. On the child’s device, install WhatsApp.
2. Open the More options menu, then tap Create a parent-managed account. The path is app.whatsapp.parent_managed_setup.
3. The parent device scans a QR code shown on the child’s screen; both devices walk through the consent step together.
4. The parent sets a 6-digit PIN, then chooses the contact, privacy and group settings the child can have [source: whatsapp-pma3].

What it covers: who can contact the account, group membership, and which privacy settings the child can change without entering the parent’s PIN.

Changes to those privacy settings require the PIN [source: whatsapp-pma3].

What it does not cover: WhatsApp’s help pages describe only privacy and contact gating, not content access. Whether the parent can read message content is not stated either way in any source opened [source: whatsapp-pma2].

The feature is rolling out gradually. The country list is not enumerated. The wiki cannot tell a parent whether parent-managed accounts are available in their country from the help pages alone.

Discord (Family Center)

Discord’s family surface is Family Center. It is set up by a QR-code scan in the Discord mobile app on the teen’s device [source: discord-fc-eng] [source: discord-fc2].

1. On the parent’s device, install Discord and create an adult account.
2. On the teen’s device, open User Settings, then Family Center, then enable the Enable Family Center tab toggle. The path is app.discord.family_center.
3. The teen scans a QR code on the parent’s device; the parent accepts on theirs.
4. Once linked, the parent sees an activity feed of servers joined, new friends, and time spent, plus a weekly email summary [source: discord-fc1].

What it covers: who, where, and how long.

Discord states explicitly that the surface is designed to keep parents informed while still respecting their teen’s privacy.

Message content is not part of the activity feed [source: discord-fc1].

What it does not cover: voice-channel audio, direct-message content, and the actual messages in any server.

The Discord DE help article is a native translation with no machine-translation disclaimer. The in-app DE UI labels were not transcribed in this research window and live in the resource as missing: true [source: discord-fc-de].

Roblox (Parental Controls)

Roblox’s parent surface is Parental Controls, accessed from the child’s account after the parent verifies their own age [source: roblox-pc].

1. On the child’s Roblox account, open Settings, then Parental Controls, then Add parent. The path is app.roblox.parental_controls.
2. The parent verifies their own age on the Roblox site using either a government ID or a credit-card check [source: roblox-pc].
3. Once verified, the parent can set screen-time, content maturity, monthly spend, privacy, approve certain actions, and see usage insights (daily screen time, on-platform connections). Inner-panel labels for content maturity and spend limits live in the resource as app.roblox.content_maturity and app.roblox.monthly_spending; the deeper panels are not separately transcribed.

What it covers: screen time, content maturity, spend, privacy, usage insights and action approvals.

What it does not cover: Roblox’s own FAQ does not address whether the parent-side view persists if the child creates a second unlinked account.

Multi-accounting is a known shape of bypass that the official help pages do not answer [source: roblox-pc].

Accounts registered as 13+ can self-change the birthdate. Under-13 accounts cannot self-edit the birthdate.

A child who entered a false birthdate at signup is treated as 13+ [source: roblox-age-en] [source: roblox-age-de].

Fortnite / Epic Games (Cabined Accounts)

Epic’s parent surface for under-18 players is Cabined Accounts. It was introduced on 2022-12-07 [source: epic-cabined].

1. From the Epic Account Portal, open Parental Controls. The path is app.epic.cabined_accounts.
2. The parent verifies their identity using one of: a Face Scan, a Credit or Debit Card check, or an ID Scan, depending on which options the region offers [source: epic-cabined].
3. Set voice and text chat permissions, purchasing permissions, and playtime reporting.
4. Changes require a parent-set PIN; playtime reports arrive by daily email.

What it covers: voice and text chat toggles, purchasing permissions, daily playtime reports, PIN-gated changes.

What it does not cover: Epic’s help pages do not describe whether the parent is notified of successful bypass attempts or repeated PIN failures.

Region affects which verification options are offered [source: epic-pc].

Minecraft (via Xbox / Microsoft Family Safety)

For a child on Minecraft, the relevant parent surface is the Microsoft family group, not anything inside Minecraft itself [source: www-minecraft-official] [source: microsoft-ms-family-safety].

1. Create an adult Microsoft account for the parent and a child Microsoft account for the child.
2. From the parent account, invite the child to the family group and accept the consent prompt.
3. On the Xbox account portal, open the child profile, then Online Safety / Privacy. The path is app.xbox-family-safety.online_safety.
4. Set multiplayer to friends-only, choose chat permissions (voice, text, invites), set content restrictions by age rating, enable Ask to buy under spending, and configure screen-time schedules via Set screen time limits across devices (app.xbox-family-safety.cross_device_screen_time) [source: microsoft-ms-time-en]. Per-app and per-game limits are configured under Apps and games → App and game limits (app.xbox-family-safety.app_and_game_limits) [source: microsoft-ms-apps-en]. Spend approvals and approval-for-every-purchase are configured under Manage spending in Family Safety (app.xbox-family-safety.spending) [source: microsoft-ms-limits-en].

What it covers: multiplayer access, chat permissions, content ratings, spending approvals, cross-device screen time and per-app limits.

What it does not cover: Microsoft describes permission gates, not content logging. Whether in-game chat text is logged for parental review versus only permission-gated is not stated either way in any source opened [source: www-minecraft-official].

Cross-device screen time applies to Android, Windows, and Xbox devices that are signed into the family group [source: microsoft-ms-time-en].

ChatGPT (parental controls)

OpenAI’s parent surface launched in September 2025 [source: openai-chatgpt-launch].

1. From the parent’s ChatGPT account, open Settings, then Parental controls, then Add family member. The path is app.chatgpt.parental_controls.
2. The teen accepts the link invite on their account; the parent receives a notification if the teen later unlinks.
3. The parent can configure quiet hours, disable voice mode, disable image generation, disable memory, opt out of model training, enable Study Mode by default, and receive safety notifications for acute-distress signals [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

What it covers: feature toggles and a notification on acute-distress detection.

What it does not cover: OpenAI states explicitly that parental controls do not let a parent or guardian read or monitor the teen’s conversations [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

The link is opt-in on the teen’s side. The teen can decline or later unlink. The parent is notified but cannot block.

Character.AI (Parental Insights)

Character.AI’s parent surface is Parental Insights, set up by the teen [source: character-charai-pi].

1. From the teen’s Character.AI account, open Preferences, then Parental Insights, then enter the parent’s email to invite them. The path is app.characterai.parental_insights.
2. The parent accepts by email; from then on, the parent receives a weekly email with the teen’s average daily time, the top characters interacted with, and time per character.

What it covers: a weekly digest of usage pattern.

What it does not cover: Character.AI states explicitly that the digest does not include a user’s chat content [source: character-charai-pi].

Character.AI removed open-ended one-on-one chat for under-18-flagged accounts in late 2025. It also capped use at two hours per day. The specific date rests on secondary reporting. Character.AI’s own safety page confirms Parental Insights but not the exact removal date [source: blog-charai-blog] [source: www-charai-rundown].

A teen who entered a false birthdate at signup is not flagged as under-18. The restriction regime does not apply to them [source: character-charai-safety].

What these settings do not cover

This is the section most guides skip. Read it before you change any setting.

It is also where most of the limits of the in-app layer become visible.

• No parental-control surface at all.

  Telegram and Signal have no parent-facing control surface of any kind.

  Telegram’s terms of service set a minimum age of 16 (13 in some regions) with no verification mechanism at signup [source: telegram-wales] [source: telegram-api].

  Signal’s terms require users to be at least 13, higher in your home country for GDPR purposes (see glossary). There is no described verification method [source: support-signal-gdpr] [source: support-signal-gdpr-de].

  A 10-year-old can enter a false birthdate with no check in either app.

• No help-centre article, only an announcement.

  Twitch’s parental controls for teens 13 to 17 were announced in a support-channel post dated 2026-07-20. The official help-centre article was not located during the research window [source: x-twitch-pc].

  Without an article, the in-app labels cannot be transcribed. The wiki does not document what the user sees.

• No official parental-control surface documented.

  Pinterest: the wiki found no official help-centre parental-control page. If such a page exists, it was not opened [source: x-twitch-pc].

  Note: the research flagged Pinterest as a gap. The closest documented source for it is via the same social-media-and-help-centre lens. The wiki cannot document a page that does not exist in the help centre.

• Message content.

  Snapchat, Discord, Instagram, WhatsApp, Roblox, Fortnite, and Character.AI all expose metadata: who, when, how long, what categories.

  None expose message content to the parent [source: snapchat-snap-fc1] [source: discord-fc1] [source: meta-ai-insights] [source: help-chatgpt-faq] [source: character-charai-pi].

  Where message content is visible, the page above says so. Where the source is silent on message content, the wiki does not claim visibility.

• Conversation content in AI assistants.

  ChatGPT’s parental controls explicitly do not let a parent read or monitor the teen’s conversations [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

  Character.AI’s Parental Insights explicitly do not include chat content [source: character-charai-pi].

• A second account on the same service.

  None of the parent-facing surfaces cover the child creating a second, unlinked account on the same service.

  Roblox’s FAQ does not address multi-accounting. Discord and Snapchat require the teen to opt in. A second account on the same service simply starts outside the link [source: roblox-pc] [source: discord-fc1] [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].

• A different device.

  Apple Screen Time reports on the device signed in to Family Sharing with the child’s Apple Account. It does not report on a friend’s phone, a school iPad, or a console [source: wirecutter-parental-controls].

  The same is true of every in-app control listed above. It covers the account, not the device.

• Region-gated availability.

  Several services say select countries with more coming soon without naming them.

  Those are: Instagram Teen Accounts and Family Center [source: meta-teen3], WhatsApp parent-managed accounts [source: whatsapp-pma1], and Twitch Parental Controls [source: x-twitch-pc].

  The wiki cannot tell a parent whether the controls exist in their country from the help pages alone.

• OS-level enforcement.

  None of the in-app controls overrides the device-level setting.

  A parent who has not set Screen Time, Family Link, or Microsoft Family Safety will see the in-app settings respected only as long as the child chooses to respect them.

  The device layer is what stops a reset [source: apple-screen-time] [source: google-family-link-getting-started] [source: microsoft-ms-family-safety].

The independent research that informs the wiki’s editorial stance treats in-app controls as one layer of protection, not a complete solution [source: consumer-ftc-parental-controls] [source: saferinternet-technischer-kinderschutz].

If a setting disappeared after an update

This is the practical section. App settings move with every release.

Parents blame themselves when they cannot find what they used last month. It is almost always the app that changed.

Here is the diagnostic order, from most likely to least likely.

1. The label was renamed.

   This is the most common reason.

   TikTok’s Family Pairing used to be called Digital Wellbeing in earlier versions of the app. Snapchat’s family surface has been renamed twice since 2022. Discord’s family surface is called Family Center in the help centre but appears under different in-app labels depending on the build [source: snapchat-snap-fc1] [source: discord-fc1].

   The first thing to do is update the app on the parent’s device and the child’s device. Then look again.

2. The setting was moved into a sub-menu.

   YouTube Kids’ controls used to live in a single screen. In recent builds they live behind EDIT SETTINGS inside the profile. The timer and history controls are in their own sub-panels [source: google-youtubekids].

   Roblox’s Content Maturity and Spend Limits sit in their own panels inside Parental Controls, not at the entry screen [source: roblox-pc].

   The wiki keeps the entry-point path in the UI-string resource. The deeper panels are tracked separately because their labels change more often.

3. The feature was retired.

   Character.AI removed open-ended one-on-one chat for under-18 accounts in late 2025. This removed several knobs parents used to have [source: www-charai-rundown].

   No app announces retirements clearly. The secondary coverage is the first place they appear.

4. The feature was moved to a new surface.

   ChatGPT’s parental controls launched in a separate settings tab in September 2025. That is not inside the older account settings where parents had been looking [source: openai-chatgpt-launch] [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

   The settings are still there. They are just no longer where they were.

5. The app was updated on one device but not the other.

   Family Pairing (TikTok), Family Center (Snapchat), Discord Family Center, and Meta Family Center all require both sides to run a current version of the app.

   If one side is out of date, the parent side often shows a stale waiting for consent screen. That looks like a disappeared setting but is not.

6. The teen re-accepted the link and the parent view is now fresh.

   A teen-initiated link can be re-accepted on the teen’s device after a reinstall. That resets the parent’s dashboard in some services.

   This is not a disappearance. It is a re-baselining. Recheck the parent’s view, not the child’s.

7. The setting is region-gated and your region changed.

   Instagram Teen Accounts and Family Center are select countries with more coming soon [source: meta-teen3].

   If the family has travelled or moved, a setting that was available can disappear without notice.

8. The source we relied on for the path no longer matches the app.

   This is the case the wiki is built for.

   The UI-string resource is keyed (app.<vendor>.<feature>) so the build can flag a stale entry when its verified_on falls behind the next OS major release or app version.

   Where a key is missing: true in the resource, the wiki states so on the page rather than guessing.

If after this order you still cannot find the setting, the wiki’s recommendation is to treat the gap as documented.

Re-check the service’s help centre against the wiki’s source slug. Then open a fresh help-centre article if one has been published since 2026-08-16.

The dates on the sources at the bottom of this article tell you when each entry was last verified against the service’s own page.

Talking about it

In-app controls live inside an account the child signs into. A parent who flips the settings without telling the child has set up something the child cannot name and will work to remove.

A few habits help the technical control land without becoming a surveillance story.

• Tell the child what you set and what you did not set.

  Discord’s Family Center is an activity feed, not a message reader [source: discord-fc1].

  Snapchat’s Family Center shows who and not what [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].

  ChatGPT’s parental controls are feature toggles, not a conversation reader [source: help-chatgpt-faq].

  Naming the boundary is the part Apple, Google, Meta, Discord, Snapchat, and OpenAI all skip.

• Name the missing surface, not the child’s failure.

  Telegram and Signal have no parental controls at all. The absence is a fact about the service, not about the child [source: support-signal-gdpr] [source: telegram-wales].

  A child who hears there is no setting for this in Telegram hears a fact they can repeat. A child who hears you are doing something wrong on Telegram hears an accusation.

• Use the re-check cycle.

  App settings move with every release.

  When the configuration is re-checked after an app update or at the child’s next birthday, decide what is appropriate for the child’s present age.

  Do not just repeat what was appropriate when the setup was first run [source: consumer-ftc-parental-controls].

• Treat in-app controls as one layer, not the answer.

  Independent guidance treats in-app controls as one layer of a layered approach: device-level limits, in-app controls, and conversation [source: saferinternet-technischer-kinderschutz].

  The in-app controls do not stand alone. They are the most granular layer, and the most volatile.

The relationship protects the conversation.

The conversation protects the relationship.

The in-app controls protect neither on their own.

Sources

• google-youtubekids — Google Support, Parental controls for YouTube Kids profiles. Primary source for the content levels, passcode gate, and timer in YouTube Kids [source: google-youtubekids].
• google-yt-supervised — Google Support, Parental controls and settings for supervised kid accounts on YouTube. Primary source for Family Center on the 13+ supervised account path [source: google-yt-supervised].
• tiktok-family-pairing — TikTok Support, Family Pairing. Primary source for the two-sided setup, the parent-side path, and the rule that teens can increase but not decrease restrictions [source: tiktok-family-pairing].
• meta-teen1 — Instagram Help, About Instagram Teen Accounts. Primary source for the Teen Account framing [source: meta-teen1].
• meta-teen2 — About Instagram, New Instagram Teen Accounts: Default Settings. Primary source for the default protections [source: meta-teen2].
• meta-teen3 — Meta Family Center, Protect Teens on Instagram. Primary source for the parent-side supervision surface [source: meta-teen3].
• meta-teen4 — Meta Family Center, Supervision Tools for Teen Accounts. Primary source for the dashboard surfaces [source: meta-teen4].
• meta-ai-insights — Meta Help, Parents and guardians can see insights about what their teens ask AI. Primary source for the ten-topic-category weekly digest [source: meta-ai-insights].
• snapchat-snap-fc1 — Snapchat Support, What is Family Center?. Primary source for the Snapchat EN family surface and the explicit no-content statement [source: snapchat-snap-fc1].
• snapchat-snap-fc-de — Snapchat, Eltern – Family Center (DE). Native German-language confirmation that the English product name is preserved on the DE locale [source: snapchat-snap-fc-de].
• snapchat-snap-fc-find — Snapchat Support, How do I find Family Center in the Snapchat app?. Primary source for the in-app search path [source: snapchat-snap-fc-find].
• whatsapp-pma1 — WhatsApp Help Center, Parent- Managed Accounts. Primary source for the eligibility rule [source: whatsapp-pma1].
• whatsapp-pma2 — WhatsApp Blog, Introducing parent-managed accounts on WhatsApp. Primary source for the rollout framing [source: whatsapp-pma2].
• whatsapp-pma3 — WhatsApp Help Center, How to set-up a parent-managed account. Primary source for the device-side setup, the QR-code link, and the 6-digit parent PIN [source: whatsapp-pma3].
• discord-fc1 — Discord, Discord Family Center – Safety. Primary source for the design intent and the activity-feed scope [source: discord-fc1].
• discord-fc2 — Discord Support, What is Family Center?. Primary source for the in-app settings path [source: discord-fc2].
• discord-fc-eng — Discord Support, Family Center for Parents and Guardians (EN). Primary source for the QR-code-scan setup requirement [source: discord-fc-eng].
• discord-fc-teen — Discord Support, Family Center for Teens. Primary source for the teen-side opt-in flow [source: discord-fc-teen].
• discord-fc-de — Discord Support, Family Center für Eltern und Erziehungsberechtigte (DE). Native German confirmation of the help article; the in-app DE UI labels are not separately transcribed [source: discord-fc-de].
• roblox-pc — Roblox Support, Parental Controls FAQ. Primary source for the parent-side path and the ID-or-credit-card age verification requirement [source: roblox-pc].
• roblox-age-en — Roblox Support, How do I change my age? (EN). Primary source for the under-13 cannot self-edit rule [source: roblox-age-en].
• roblox-age-de — Roblox Support, Wie ändere ich mein Alter? (DE). Native German confirmation of the age-change policy [source: roblox-age-de].
• epic-cabined — Epic Games Help, How do I complete the parental consent process?. Primary source for the 2022-12-07 Cabined Accounts rollout and the verification options [source: epic-cabined].
• epic-pc — Epic Games Safety, Parental Controls. Primary source for the regional variation in verification options [source: epic-pc].
• www-minecraft-official — Minecraft.net, Parental Controls in Minecraft. Primary source for the Minecraft-on-Microsoft-Family-Safety framing [source: www-minecraft-official].
• microsoft-ms-family-safety — Microsoft Support, Managing parental consent. Primary source for the family group setup [source: microsoft-ms-family-safety].
• microsoft-ms-time-en — Microsoft Support, Set screen time limits across devices (EN). Primary source for the cross-device screen-time path [source: microsoft-ms-time-en].
• microsoft-ms-limits-en — Microsoft Support, Spending limits in Family Safety (EN). Primary source for the spend-approval paths [source: microsoft-ms-limits-en].
• microsoft-ms-apps-en — Microsoft Support, Block or unblock apps with Microsoft Family Safety (EN). Primary source for per-app and per-game limits [source: microsoft-ms-apps-en].
• help-chatgpt-faq — OpenAI Help, Parental controls in ChatGPT FAQ. Primary source for the explicit no-conversation-content rule [source: help-chatgpt-faq].
• help-chatgpt-18 — OpenAI Help, What changes when a ChatGPT user turns 18. Primary source for the age transition [source: help-chatgpt-18].
• openai-chatgpt-launch — OpenAI, Introducing parental controls. Primary source for the September 2025 launch [source: openai-chatgpt-launch].
• character-charai-pi — Character.AI, Parental Insights. Primary source for the weekly-digest framing and the explicit no-chat-content statement [source: character-charai-pi].
• character-charai-safety — Character.AI, Safety Center. Primary source for the under-18 flagging regime [source: character-charai-safety].
• blog-charai-blog — Character.AI Blog, How Character.AI Prioritizes Teen Safety. Primary source for the company’s framing of teen safety [source: blog-charai-blog].
• www-charai-rundown — The Rundown Today, Character.AI Parental Controls — What Changed. Secondary source for the late-2025 chat-removal date, which the official Character.AI pages do not confirm in the research window [source: www-charai-rundown].
• support-signal-gdpr — Signal Support, Signal and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EN). Primary source for the documented absence of parental controls and the 13-or-higher minimum age [source: support-signal-gdpr].
• support-signal-gdpr-de — Signal Support, Signal und die Datenschutz-Grundverordnung (DSGVO) (DE). Native German confirmation [source: support-signal-gdpr-de].
• internetmatters-signal-im — Internet Matters, What is Signal? What parents need to know. Practitioner secondary source on Signal’s age policy and absence of controls [source: internetmatters-signal-im].
• telegram-wales — Hwb (Welsh Government), Telegram. Institutional secondary source on Telegram’s age policy and absence of parental controls [source: telegram-wales].
• telegram-api — Telegram APIs, Age verification. Primary source for the technical note that Telegram’s age- verification mini-app covers 18+ restricted content categories, unrelated to parental oversight [source: telegram-api].
• x-twitch-pc — Twitch Support (X post). Social- media announcement of parental controls dated 2026-07-20; the official help-centre article was not located. Below the wiki’s source-quality bar for in-app labels; retained here only to document the gap [source: x-twitch-pc].
• wirecutter-parental-controls — Wirecutter / NYT, 2026 parental-controls review. Independent secondary source on what device-level and in-app controls actually cover and miss [source: wirecutter-parental-controls].
• mpfs-kim2024 — mpfs, KIM-Studie 2024. Primary German survey on media use by 6- to 13-year-olds; primary source for the 42% TikTok and 73% WhatsApp figures [source: mpfs-kim2024].
• mpfs-jim2025 — mpfs, JIM-Studie 2025. Primary German survey on media use by 12- to 19-year-olds; primary source for the 96% WhatsApp, 63% Instagram, 56% Snapchat, and 53% TikTok figures [source: mpfs-jim2025].
• www-pew-teens-2024 — Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024. Primary US survey on teen media use; primary source for the 73% daily YouTube figure [source: www-pew-teens-2024].
• consumer-ftc-parental-controls — US FTC, Parental controls. Independent source on the periodic-re- review recommendation [source: consumer-ftc-parental-controls].
• saferinternet-technischer-kinderschutz — Austrian Safer Internet Centre, technical child-protection guidance. Independent source on the layered-approach framing [source: saferinternet-technischer-kinderschutz].

[source: google-youtubekids] [source: google-yt-supervised] [source: tiktok-family-pairing] [source: meta-teen1] [source: meta-teen2] [source: meta-teen3] [source: meta-teen4] [source: meta-ai-insights] [source: snapchat-snap-fc1] [source: snapchat-snap-fc-de] [source: snapchat-snap-fc-find] [source: whatsapp-pma1] [source: whatsapp-pma2] [source: whatsapp-pma3] [source: discord-fc1] [source: discord-fc2] [source: discord-fc-eng] [source: discord-fc-teen] [source: discord-fc-de] [source: roblox-pc] [source: roblox-age-en] [source: roblox-age-de] [source: epic-cabined] [source: epic-pc] [source: www-minecraft-official] [source: microsoft-ms-family-safety] [source: microsoft-ms-time-en] [source: microsoft-ms-limits-en] [source: microsoft-ms-apps-en] [source: help-chatgpt-faq] [source: help-chatgpt-18] [source: openai-chatgpt-launch] [source: character-charai-pi] [source: character-charai-safety] [source: blog-charai-blog] [source: www-charai-rundown] [source: support-signal-gdpr] [source: support-signal-gdpr-de] [source: internetmatters-signal-im] [source: telegram-wales] [source: telegram-api] [source: x-twitch-pc] [source: wirecutter-parental-controls] [source: mpfs-kim2024] [source: mpfs-jim2025] [source: www-pew-teens-2024] [source: consumer-ftc-parental-controls] [source: saferinternet-technischer-kinderschutz]