Threads introduces parental supervision tools for teen accounts

Meta is expanding safety features on Threads by introducing new parental supervision tools designed to help parents and guardians better manage how teenagers use the social media platform. The new controls will be available through Meta’s Family Centre, giving families additional oversight while building on the existing protections already applied to teen accounts on Threads.

The company said the rollout will begin in the United States from next week, marking the first time parental supervision features have been integrated directly into Threads. The update reflects Meta’s wider strategy of extending safety tools across its family of apps as concerns about young people’s online wellbeing continue to grow.

Parents gain greater oversight of teen activity

The new Parental Supervision feature will provide parents and guardians with insights into how their teenagers use Threads. Once supervision is enabled through Family Centre, adults will be able to see how much time their teen spends on the app each day over the previous week, including average daily usage. These insights are intended to help families better understand screen time habits and encourage healthier online routines.

Parents will also be able to set daily time limits for Threads, preventing access once the allocated usage time has been reached. If a teenager uses the app across multiple devices, the time limit will apply collectively rather than separately. In addition, parents can block access during selected days or hours, offering greater flexibility for managing app usage around school, family activities or other commitments.

Another feature allows guardians to manage Sleep Mode settings. During the scheduled sleep period, notifications are automatically muted, and auto-replies are enabled by default between 10.00 pm and 7.00 am. Parents can adjust these hours to match their household routines, helping reduce late-night use of the platform.

Meta is also giving parents more influence over how teenagers interact with other users. Guardians can decide who is allowed to tag their teen in posts and manage selected privacy settings as well as sensitive content preferences. For users under the age of 16, parents can also decide whether less restrictive account settings can be enabled, giving families more direct involvement in managing safety preferences.

New controls build on existing teen protections

The latest parental tools complement the Teen Account protections that are already active on Threads. These accounts include automatic safety measures such as private profiles by default and restrictions on the type of content recommended to younger users. The supervision features are designed to add another layer of oversight without replacing the platform’s built-in safeguards.

Family Centre acts as Meta’s central hub for parental controls across several of its services. Parents who already supervise accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and Meta Horizon can now manage Threads from the same location. The company said this unified approach aims to simplify account supervision by reducing the need to switch between different apps and settings pages.

Meta said it plans to continue expanding Family Centre over time, with additional supervision tools and broader insights expected across its platforms. The company believes a single management hub can help parents maintain consistent safety settings while giving teenagers greater protection across multiple services.

The introduction of Threads supervision also follows Meta’s broader efforts to strengthen parental involvement in its products. Earlier this year, the company added features that allow parents to better understand the topics influencing their teenagers’ Instagram recommendations and consolidated supervision tools across several Meta services into Family Centre.

Meta continues wider push for online safety

The launch comes as Meta faces continued scrutiny from regulators, policymakers and child safety groups over how young people interact with social media. Technology companies have been under increasing pressure to provide stronger protections for minors, particularly regarding screen time, privacy and exposure to potentially harmful content.

Over the past few years, Meta has gradually introduced a series of features aimed at improving online safety for teenagers. These measures include stronger content restrictions on Instagram, expanded parental supervision options and new tools that give parents more visibility into how their children engage with Meta’s products. The company has also introduced additional safeguards around interactions with Meta AI, including features that provide parents with more information about general conversation topics while maintaining privacy around message content.

By extending parental supervision to Threads, Meta is continuing its effort to create a more consistent approach to teen safety across its ecosystem. While the new controls are intended to help parents guide their children’s online habits, they also reinforce the company’s ongoing focus on balancing safety, privacy and independence for younger users as social media continues to evolve.