Social Media Privacy: Parental Controls Need to Fit the Child

​It’s no secret that kids love social media, but just like candy, social media can be really unhealthy for them. In a recent blog, we talked about the latest risks that kids face on social media, from identity theft to scams and adult content, all the way to posting something that could damage opportunities for them in the future. Keeping kids safe on social media needs to be as much a part of parenting today as providing healthy meals and encouraging good study habits. There are many tools and ways to protect kids on these platforms. It’s really a matter of choosing what’s right for you and your child.

To set up protections, you need to assess the following:

• Where does your child access social media? From a family computer or on their mobile device(s)?
• Are they using social media via a browser, app, or both? Are they using social media messaging apps (such as Facebook’s WhatsApp)?
• How old and/or responsible is your child?
• Will the protections be preventive or are there already problems such as social media distracting them from homework or signs of bullying or risky online contact?

​If you can, have a conversation with your child about their social media usage. They might enjoy teaching you about the cool new apps they’re using.

Next, you can choose what types and levels of parental controls might be appropriate. Here’s an overview of the options:

• OS and network parental controls: If your child uses social media on a home computer, you can use operating system and/or home network controls to block inappropriate websites and contacts, limit screen time, and restrict purchases and downloads. Both Windows and Mac OS will also allow you to set controls across multiple devices.
• Browser privacy controls: If your child accesses social media through a browser, you can use browser privacy settings to block inappropriate websites and content that may contain pornographic materials. You can also use browser settings to limit online tracking of your child, although most social media platforms will still track users on their site and apps.
• Social media platform parental controls: Social media companies have taken a lot of heat the last few years for ignoring or violating the privacy of kids. (Popular video site TikTok is a recent example.) Faced with bad press and new privacy regulations, many now provide parental controls to limit who kids can come in contact with; the content they see; and other apps that use data from their account. You can download step-by-step guides to parental controls for popular social platforms at InternetMatters.org.
• Parental control apps: There are a number of parental control apps available for different operating systems and devices. Most of them offer basic controls, such as pornography blocks, screen time limitations, or tracking overall social media usage. Others offer more surveillance-type features, such as tracking a child’s location and email, text message, and call log viewing. Some also have safety features such as alerting parents if a child leaves a geographic “safe zone” and a panic button that allows a child to signal if they’re in trouble.

​Ultimately, you have to decide what’s right for your family. If your child is already having trouble managing their social media usage or is engaging in risky online behavior, you might need to set stricter limitations on their devices or monitor their usage. If they’re doing OK with social media, why not involve your kids in their own protection by walking through privacy settings and controls together and talking about why protection is necessary? Then, if they do run into trouble, they’ll be more likely to spot it right away and ask for help. If you have SocialSentry™, the first-ever social media privacy service, you can also include your kids on your family plan. That will help plan protect them from account takeover, fraud, and the embarrassment of inappropriate content being posted on their profiles.

​Inevitably, though, kids grow up, and they need to learn to protect themselves. As Steven Aldrich, a tech executive, said in a Wall Street Journal article on kids and social media, “No amount of monitoring is going to teach responsibility or judgment.” So, the sooner you can teach them to protect themselves, the better.