The Download
- Discord and WhatsApp include free settings to help keep your kids’ chats safer and more private.
- Use Discord’s settings to disable DMs and friend requests.
- WhatsApp lets you control who can join your child’s chats and who can add them to other group conversations.
This article explains how to use free privacy and safety settings on Discord and WhatsApp to better protect your child’s private chats from unwanted exposure.
How Can I Block Strangers From Messaging My Child on Discord?
Children can be contacted privately through Discord servers or friend requests unless their privacy settings are updated. To help keep their interactions safer, you can limit who can message them directly and control who is allowed to send friend requests.
Limit Private Messages
By default, your child can receive direct messages from other users in a shared server. It’s easy to shut off DMs from other server members to limit who your child can communicate with privately.
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Tap You at the bottom right of the Discord app to open the profile page.
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Select the Settings button at the top right.
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Tap Content & Social from the list.
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Scroll to the Server settings section and turn off Direct Messages.
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Tap Yes to confirm.
Discord’s settings let you control who can send DMs.
Turn Off Friend Requests
Random friend requests might be one of the biggest concerns about letting children use messaging apps. You really have no idea who might try to reach out to them behind your back.
Discord lets everyone send friend requests by default, so follow these steps to limit who can add your child as a friend and to make it more difficult for strangers to find your child’s Discord account.
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Open the settings in the Discord app by selecting You > Settings > Content & Social.
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Scroll to Friend requests and turn off Everyone.
Feel free to also lock down friend requests for friends of friends and server members. Disabling all three means nobody can send friend requests.
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Scroll a bit further to check these settings, too:
- Sync Contacts: If you trust your child’s phone contacts, turn this on to let them easily add their phone contacts to Discord.
- Phone and Email: In the Discover section are these options, which we recommend disabling to prevent strangers from being able to easily add your kid on Discord.
Control who can send friend requests from the Discord app.
What Are WhatsApp’s Group Chat Safety Settings for Kids?
When it comes to WhatsApp privacy, managing group settings is key to keeping kids safer. The following sections explain how to control who can add members to a group chat and how to block strangers from pulling your child into risky group chats.
Prevent Strangers From Joining Group Chats
Adding other people to an existing WhatsApp group chat is incredibly easy. While useful for adults, it’s clear how concerning this can be for children. Follow these steps for editing the group permissions to make it a little harder for just anyone to join.
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From the Chats tab, tap and hold the group conversation to select it.
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Tap the three dots at the top of the app to open the menu, and then choose Group info.
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Select Group permissions.
WhatsApp includes several group chat options.
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On this screen are two options you should change:
- Tap Add other members to turn that off. This prevents other people in the group from adding strangers to the conversation.
- Tap Approve new members. When turned on, only admins can decide who gets to participate in the group.
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Select Edit group admins at the bottom of the screen.
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Ensure that nobody is listed at the top of the screen. If a group member is selected as an admin, tap the x to remove them and then tap the checkmark at the bottom.
This will leave just you as the group admin, which is useful if you started the group chat for your child.
WhatsApp group admins can be added and removed easily.
Stop WhatsApp Group Invites
This app provides no protections for kids who join WhatsApp groups via public links. However, there is a way to prevent strangers from adding your child to their groups, which could contain adult content or harmful messages.
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Tap the three dots at the top of WhatsApp and then select Settings.
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Go to Privacy > Groups.
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Tap My contacts so that only your child’s contacts can add them to a group.
Privacy controls let you decide who can add your child to group chats.
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