If you’ve been to one of my workshops, you’ll know I often talk about the gap between when a platform launches and when the safety tools actually arrive. Well, here’s a perfect example.
Threads, Meta’s answer to X, has been around for three years now. It has over 500 million monthly users. And until this week, it had no parental controls whatsoever. No safety by design here
Well, you will be glad to know that’s finally changing.
Meta has announced that parental supervision tools are rolling out to Threads through Family Centre, the same hub parents may already be familiar with from Instagram and Facebook.
And let’s be honest about the timing here. This move comes as regulators, particularly in the EU, have been mounting pressure on Meta over how well its platforms protect young people. Better late than never, but it’s worth remembering that these tools arrived under pressure; Meta could of done this some time ago
There are five key areas:
1. Time Monitoring: You can see exactly how much time your teen has spent on Threads each day over the past week, including their daily average.
2. Usage Limits: Set a daily time limit or block access on certain days and hours. Importantly, if your teen uses Threads on multiple devices, say, their phone and laptop, the limit applies to the total time across all devices. No sneaky workarounds.
3. Sleep Mode: By default, all teen accounts have notifications muted, and auto-replies switched on from 10 pm to 7 am. A big help for bedtime routines.
4. Tag Restrictions: You can place limits on tagging, along with other privacy and content settings.
5. Under-16 Protections: For teens under 16, parents decide whether their child can loosen the automatic safety settings, such as private-account defaults and content limits.
These tools are a genuine step forward, but as always, they’re not a silver bullet.
Here’s the bit that matters most: setting up supervision on Threads requires your teen’s consent. You can’t switch this on behind their back, and honestly, I think that’s the right approach. It means this has to start with a conversation; no one wants confrontation.
Sit down together. Explain why you want these tools in place. Set them up side by side. In my experience, teens respond far better to “let’s do this together”; remember to use ‘privacy and safety settings’ rather than teeing it up as parental controls.
The rollout is starting in the US, with other countries to follow, so keep an eye out for it appearing in your Family Centre. When it does:
Remember, tools like these support good digital parenting; they don’t replace it. The conversations you have at home will always matter more than any setting in an app.
I hope this helps
Wayne
Remember to share it with your family & friends.
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