Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp and Telegram: chat app safety
The chat apps Filipino kids use most, how each one works, the settings that matter, and why Telegram needs extra caution.
- Messenger and Viber are where most Filipino family and class chats happen.
- Limit who can message and add your child to groups on every app.
- Telegram's public groups and channels can expose teens to explicit content, scams and strangers.
Most Filipino children start messaging through family group chats on Messenger or Viber. As they grow, they join class chats, friend chats and sometimes apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. Each works slightly differently.
Messenger
Messenger is linked to Facebook (or can be used with an Instagram account). Meta has been extending teen protections to Messenger.
Settings to check:
- Message delivery: messages from people who aren't friends go to message requests, or aren't delivered
- Who can add them to groups
- Active status: off, if they don't want to appear online
- Story audience: friends only
See Facebook privacy settings for teens.
Viber
Popular for family and community groups in the Philippines.
Settings to check (Settings, Privacy):
- Who can add me to groups: My contacts
- Share "online" status and "seen" status: off if preferred
- Message requests from non-contacts: be cautious
- Communities and channels: public communities can expose children to strangers
Requires a phone number. Less common among Filipino kids, but used by some families abroad.
Settings to check (Settings, Privacy):
- Groups: who can add me, set to My contacts
- Profile photo, About, Last seen: My contacts
- Silence unknown callers: on
Telegram
Telegram is used for some class chats and study groups, but it needs extra caution for teens:
- Public groups and channels can be found by search and may contain explicit content, pirated content, gambling and scams.
- Usernames let strangers contact users without a phone number.
- Secret chats and self-destructing messages hide conversations.
- Telegram is often where groomers and scammers move conversations, and where "online job" scams operate. See scams that target kids.
Settings to check (Settings, Privacy and Security):
- Phone number: visible to nobody
- Who can find me by number: my contacts
- Groups and channels: who can add me, my contacts
- Calls: my contacts
For younger teens, consider whether they need Telegram at all.
Rules for every app
- Only chat with people you know in real life.
- Don't share photos of yourself with people you don't know.
- If someone asks to move from one app to another, be cautious.
- Leave groups that make you uncomfortable.
- Tell a parent if anyone asks for secrets, photos or to meet.
See also disappearing messages and secret chats and group chat exclusion.
eGuard sets up screen time, bedtime and app rules on your child's phone and checks that each one is really on. Free for one child.