{"id":8715,"date":"2026-07-31T10:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T08:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-news&p=8715"},"modified":"2026-07-31T13:47:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:47:38","slug":"whatsapp-under-review-for-children-and-teens","status":"publish","type":"hbi-news","link":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-news\/news\/whatsapp-under-review-for-children-and-teens\/","title":{"rendered":"WhatsApp Under Review for Children and Teens"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s really behind WhatsApp? How do channels work? Why is WhatsApp only for users 13 and older? In KiKA\u2019s \u201cWhatsApp-Check!\u201d, Kira Thiel<\/a> provided easy-to-understand answers to these questions. The show is part of the \u201cTeam Timster\u201d series and the \u201cMedia Made Simple\u201d series. In this segment, KiKA’s media magazine answers questions that children and teens submitted via the Team Timster<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

Thiel is a research associate in the field of media socialization and is featured as one of the experts. Her research focuses on the experiences and effects of children and teenagers growing up in digital media environments. Along with host Tim Gailus, she offers advice on dealing with chain messages and misinformation on WhatsApp. She also explains why WhatsApp is restricted to users aged 13 and older. The app processes personal data, so children require special protection. Kira Thiel also explains how using WhatsApp can cause stress, such as the perceived pressure to reply immediately, and how users can reduce this stress with simple settings. For example, users can turn off the blue checkmarks that indicate to others that a message has been read.<\/p>\n

The entire episode \u201cWhatsApp-Check!” of the series “Medien einfach erkl\u00e4rt” [Media Made Simple] is available in German on the KiKA media library<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Image: Screenshot from the show (c) KiKA, produced by ARD and ZDF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":8712,"template":"","categories":[145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8715","hbi-news","type-hbi-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhatsApp Under Review for Children and Teens - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-news\/news\/whatsapp-under-review-for-children-and-teens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WhatsApp Under Review for Children and Teens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What\u2019s really behind WhatsApp? How do channels work? Why is WhatsApp only for users 13 and older? In KiKA\u2019s \u201cWhatsApp-Check!\u201d, Kira Thiel provided easy-to-understand answers to these questions. The show is part of the \u201cTeam Timster\u201d series and the \u201cMedia Made Simple\u201d series. 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