WhatsApp is not a messenger app for your kid

Walk down a street in Helsinki and pick a random 7–12-year-old with a smartphone. In 9 out of 10 cases, you’ll find WhatsApp installed. In Finland, WhatsApp is widely seen as a simple messaging tool — private, low-risk, and the default choice for kids to stay in touch with friends and family. But this view is outdated. It no longer reflects reality.

WhatsApp has an official age limit of 13 in the EU — lowered from 16 in April 2024 — but there’s no enforcement whatsoever. Many kids under 13 use the app with their parents’ full approval, under the assumption that it’s “just for texting.” Like we used to do with SMS, right?

A few days ago, I tapped into the Updates tab — the first tab in the app’s bottom navigation bar. I’d never really looked at it before; I don’t use WhatsApp Status or Channels. What I found was surprising: a feed filled with clearly underage kids, some with thousands or tens of thousands of followers, sharing photos and details of their daily lives.

Anyone with WhatsApp can create a Channel and start sharing content. Apparently, this is now a thing among children — confirmed by several other parents I’ve spoken to. If kids are denied access to more “traditional” social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram, they’re happy to grow their audience on WhatsApp instead.

The prominent placement of WhatsApp Channels signals a clear shift in focus. WhatsApp is no longer just about messaging. It now encourages broadcasting, visibility, and reaction metrics. Just like other social media platforms. And to complete the transition, ads are being added to the mix.

While WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption does work as advertised, it’s not the whole story. Meta still collects detailed metadata about who communicates with whom, when, and how often — even from kids. Combined with data from Instagram, Facebook, and Meta Pixel trackers embedded on millions of websites, this metadata provides Meta with an extremely detailed profile of your child’s online behavior.

Meta’s track record on privacy and youth protection is abysmal. From identifying when kids were feeling worthless or helpless or like a failure, taking that information and sharing it with advertisers, to de-anonymizing web browsing identifiers of millions of website visitors by using Facebook and Instagram apps as backdoors, the company has eroded the trust of most users who care about their privacy. And yet, WhatsApp remains the default messaging app for Finnish kids.

As parents, we need to take the lead in switching to better alternatives. No tool eliminates all risk, and no app can replace the need for digital safety education. But we can reduce unnecessary exposure by acknowledging that Meta products are fundamentally unsuitable for children. 

It’s time to consider safer alternatives like Signal or Threema, which offer stronger privacy controls and better default protections. And for kids under 13, maybe ask the question: do they really need a smartphone at all?