ATSA

WhatsApp has introduced a new parental control feature that gives parents more oversight of their teenage children's accounts, aiming to protect teens from online scams and cyber criminals. In a separate announcement, the company confirmed changes to WhatsApp Business Platform pricing taking effect from October 1, prompting businesses to review how the updates will affect their messaging costs.

Following an alleged group sexual assault at an elite university in New York, authorities have appointed a special investigator, with reports saying the move comes amid concerns that trust has been undermined. In Germany, attention is turning to the role of prosecutors in the case, with searches for 'Staatsanwalt' rising as people follow how the investigation will proceed.

Developers are sharing a method to build WhatsApp chatbots without going through Meta's official business verification and template approval process, using the n8n workflow automation tool alongside WaSphere in a self-hosted setup. The approach appeals to developers and small teams who find Meta's official WhatsApp Business API requirements cumbersome and costly, though bypassing official channels may carry account ban risks.

WhatsApp is rolling out expanded parental controls for teenagers, following parent-managed accounts for pre-teens introduced earlier this year. The new features let parents receive alerts about their teen's group activity and place restrictions on access to Meta AI. The move reflects growing pressure on social platforms to give families more oversight of younger users' online activity and to address safety concerns around AI tools.

A researcher recounts attending an ATSA conference around 1998-2001, where high-profile scientists described in a keynote how they had been invited to the Vatican to advise Catholic leadership on handling sexual offenses. The account has drawn attention for shedding light on how early and how directly the Church consulted experts on clergy abuse, and on what came of that advice.

The US Treasury Department is planning to buy back long-term government bonds worth up to 6 billion US dollars. Commenters are highlighting that such liquidity injections have historically tended to boost Bitcoin's price, making the buyback a talking point in crypto circles as well as among market watchers tracking its effects on bond markets and liquidity.

WhatsApp has introduced optional parental controls aimed at teenagers, allowing parents to manage settings on their children's accounts. Announced via a BBC report, the feature is being discussed among parents and technology observers as part of a wider push by social media companies to give families more oversight of young users' online activity. Details on how the controls work and what data they give parents remain limited in early coverage.

WhatsApp messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted by default, but privacy commentators are highlighting important exceptions. Backups, metadata, and conversations with businesses may not receive the same protection, meaning parts of users' activity can still be accessible. Security experts are urging people to understand these limits before assuming all their WhatsApp communication is fully private.

A new explainer details WhatsApp's parental oversight tools for teenage users, outlining which settings parents can change — such as privacy controls, safety features and content restrictions — and what remains private to the teen, including message contents and calls. The piece is drawing attention from parents and tech commentators navigating Meta's evolving approach to teen safety on the messaging platform.