Introducing Parental Controls for Teen Accounts

Author: Christine Weber

Twitch has made extensive investments in policies and tools to keep teens safe on our service, including Content Classification Labels, default restrictions for direct messaging, and more. Now, we’re adding additional protections by empowering parents and guardians to make informed choices for their families with the introduction of optional Parental Controls. 

How it Works

With Parental Controls, parents or guardians of Twitch users between the ages of 13 (the minimum age required to use our service) and 17 can now link Twitch accounts with their teens. 

Once linked, parents or guardians can access the Parental Controls dashboard and easily toggle on and off a variety of settings designed to keep teens safe, while still allowing them to tune in and engage with their favorite content. These settings can be customized and changed as needed to be flexible around every teen’s life.

With Parental Controls, parents or guardians can:

• Prevent from Going Live: Teens can be prevented from going live and streaming their own content.
• Disable DMs: Teens can be blocked from sending or receiving Whispers (direct messages).
• Enact Time Limits: Parents/guardians can set flexible daily time limits for Twitch across all their teen’s devices.  
• Manage Content Recommendations: Parents/guardians can manage if their teens can discover or be recommended content with certain Content Classification Labels (CCLs) that may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

No matter what settings you choose, parents and guardians will be able to understand how and when their teen uses Twitch by receiving a weekly email summarizing their teen’s activity, including channels and hours watched. 

Supporting Parents and Teens Together

In launching Parental Controls, our goal is to continue to invite parents and guardians to enjoy and navigate the Twitch experience alongside their teen, while also helping teens understand how to responsibly use Twitch. As we work to ensure everyone in our community can have an age-appropriate experience on our service, we’ll also explore additional features and settings for Parental Controls. 

Parental Controls are just one tool we offer to help ensure teens are safe on Twitch. If you have a teen on Twitch and want to learn more, check out our Guide for Parents and Educators. 

FAQ

Are Parental Controls optional?

Yes, Parental Controls are optional at this time.

Do parents or guardians need their own Twitch account to access Parental Controls?

Yes - Parents or guardians must create their own, separate Twitch account in order to link with their teen’s account.

Where can I find Parental Controls on Twitch?

The Parental Controls dashboard is located in Account Settings under the Family Center page. 

What happens when a teen with Parental Controls enabled turns 18?

When a Twitch user turns 18-years-old, any accounts they are linked to with Parental Controls will automatically unlink. 

How often can the Parental Controls settings be changed?

There is no limit to how often parents or guardians can adjust the Parental Control settings - they can be adjusted once at set up or as frequently as you like. To learn more about setting Parental Controls, check out our Help Article.