WhatsApp lowers minimum age limit for users in Ireland from 16 to 13

CyberSafeKids chief executive Alex Cooney said she would like to see WhatsApp announce efforts to better safeguard younger users from bullying and other forms of harmful content.

WhatsApp has lowered its minimum age limit in Ireland and Europe from 16 to 13 years of age.

The social media messenger said it was making the change to ensure there was a consistent minimum age requirement around the world.

The changes come into effect on Friday as part of updated terms and conditions.

WhatsApp users who are under 18 are still advised to have a parent or guardian read over the terms of service.

The move has prompted concerns from parents about child safety when using the app.

CyberSafeKids chief executive Alex Cooney said she would like to see WhatsApp announce efforts to better safeguard younger users from bullying and other forms of harmful content.

"WhatsApp has already got a large percentage of underage users — 39% of eight-12-year-olds had an account on WhatsApp, according to our latest trends and usage data, despite the minimum age requirement being 16 at the time," Ms Cooney said.

"Unfortunately, WhatsApp is also not covered under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act for harmful content because it was considered a private communications platform, despite the fact you can have hundreds of users in a single group, due to its end-to-end encryption."

A spokesman for Meta, which owns WhatsApp, said the app provided the "same high standardised level of protection that is sufficient to protect all users, including those aged 13-16".

He added: "You can’t search for users you do not know, you need someone’s phone number to connect with them, and the first time you get a message from someone outside of your contacts we ask if you want to block or report them."

However, much of the concern lies in a user's ability to hide conversations they may have willingly participated in but which may not be appropriate.

In recent months, WhatsApp has added a number of new functions designed to make communication more secure.

'View once' photos and videos were introduced in 2021, meaning once a photo or video is opened, it disappears.

In December, it was announced voice notes would also have the 'view once' option. Additionally, it was announced in November that Chat Lock would be rolled out worldwide over the coming months.

This option means a user can create a unique password to view certain conversations. Users will also have the option to hide locked chats from their chat list so they can only be discovered by using the password.

These functions could allow children to hide certain conversations from their parents, making it more difficult for them to monitor their safety online.