Kakao has rolled out a new parental control feature on its flagship KakaoTalk messenger, allowing guardians to set detailed usage limits for their underage children directly within the app.
The feature allows guardians registered under a Kakao family account to invite minor children and manage their access to short-form content and open chat functions.
The controls can be activated within KakaoTalk without separate customer service procedures. A family account can be created through identity verification using a Kakao certificate in the app’s settings, after which the account holder can add members to form a group.
Once a guardian sends a connection request and the child accepts it, the child is registered as a protected user under the family account.
The update focuses on giving guardians more granular control over how minors use specific services.
For short-form content, guardians can manage viewing, commenting and search functions separately. Access to the entire service, including viewing, can be restricted, or individual features such as commenting or search can be limited.
For open chat, minors can be blocked from creating or joining new chat rooms. Guardians may also require approval for each chat room a child attempts to join.
If participation in a specific open chat is necessary — such as for school or academy use — guardians receive notifications and can approve or deny access.
Kakao said the feature operates based on mutual consent between guardians and minors.
Users aged 14 and older can request to disable the feature without guardian approval, while the controls are automatically lifted once the user turns 19.
Kakao first introduced measures to protect minors in December 2021 and simplified the process in April last year to allow legal guardians to request protections independently.
“We are continuing to refine KakaoTalk’s policies to better protect minors, and we operate a separate category for crimes involving children and adolescents, taking strong measures — including permanent bans — after reviewing reported cases,” a Kakao official said.
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