Privacy & Safety Guides

How to configure privacy settings on your child's accounts - by platform

For parents and guardians. These guides walk you through the key safety settings on each platform. Sources: official platform help pages, CyberSafe Kids, Barnardos.ie.
Twitter / X
  • Go to Settings Privacy and safety
  • Enable Protect your posts to make the account private
  • Set Direct Messages to verified users only
  • Turn off Discoverability (email and phone search)
  • Disable Location information in posts
  • Review followers and remove any unknown accounts
Official Twitter / X safety guide
TikTok
  • Tap Profile Menu Settings Privacy
  • Set account to Private
  • Set Who can send me messages to Friends only
  • Set Who can Duet/Stitch to No one
  • Turn on Family Pairing (links parent's account)
  • Enable Restricted Mode to filter mature content
TikTok Guardian's Guide
Instagram
  • Go to Settings Account Privacy
  • Toggle Private Account on
  • Set Message Controls Others can't message
  • Enable Parental Supervision (Family Centre)
  • Set daily time limits via Dashboard Time Management
  • Under 16s are automatically set to private in the EU
Instagram Parental Controls
Snapchat
  • Go to Profile Settings Privacy Controls
  • Set Contact Me to Friends Only
  • Set View My Story to Friends Only
  • Turn off See Me in Quick Add
  • Turn off Show me on Snap Map (Ghost Mode)
  • Enable Family Centre to monitor connections
Snapchat Family Centre
YouTube
  • Use YouTube Kids for under-13s (separate app)
  • Enable Restricted Mode in Settings General
  • Set up Supervised Experience via Family Link
  • Review and clear Watch History regularly
  • Set Autoplay off to avoid rabbit holes
YouTube parental controls
Discord
  • Go to User Settings Privacy & Safety
  • Set Who can add you as a friend to mutual server members
  • Set Allow direct messages from server members to off
  • Enable Safe Direct Messaging (auto-filter explicit images)
  • Minimum age is 13 - check server ages are appropriate
  • Review server list regularly for inappropriate communities
Discord Safety for parents
WhatsApp
  • Go to Settings Privacy
  • Set Profile photo, About, Last seen to My Contacts only
  • Set Who can add me to groups to My Contacts only
  • Enable Silence Unknown Callers
  • Minimum age is 16 in Ireland / EU
  • Review contact list and block unknown numbers
WhatsApp Privacy (EU/EEA)

General Online Safety Tips

  • Have regular, open conversations about what your child does online - avoid accusatory approaches
  • Agree on screen time boundaries together - co-created rules are better followed
  • Teach children to never share personal details (school, address, phone number) online
  • Make sure they know how to block and report people - and that they can always come to you
  • Sources: CyberSafe Kids, Barnardos.ie, Hotline.ie