The surge in social media usage is not only prominent among adults but is also growing rapidly among children and teenagers. While there are several advantages for young individuals in utilizing social media—such as self-education, expanding their social connections, and gaining exposure to informative content—there are also inherent risks that can affect children and teenagers adversely. These risks include exposure to inappropriate content such as violent videos, aggressive or sexual comments, explicit pictures, and games that may influence a child's behavior negatively.
The popularity of social media has resulted in younger individuals spending considerable amounts of time each day browsing through photos, videos, and various content posted by friends, family, celebrities, and public figures. As more people join these platforms, the landscape of social media evolves, and new threats emerge. In 2017, social media games like the Blue Whale Challenge and Sarahah gained attention for promoting dangerous tasks, anonymous and abusive comments, causing anxiety and even leading some users, particularly children, towards suicidal tendencies.
Social media addiction brings forth several consequences, including academic setbacks, decreased engagement in sports activities, and disruptions to productive routines among youngsters. Recognizing these challenges, parents are turning to technological solutions like parental control software to monitor and manage their child's online activities. Parental control software offers various features to empower parents in safeguarding their children's digital experiences:
Time Limit: Parents can set specific time limits for their children to use the computer or engage in online activities each day.
Game Content Control: This feature enables parents to regulate their child's access to games by setting appropriate age levels and blocking unsuitable content.
Web Access Restriction: Parents can restrict access to irrelevant or inappropriate websites to create a safer online environment for their children.
Program-Specific Controls: This functionality prevents children from running specific programs on the computer, ensuring they engage in age-appropriate and safe content.
The rise in the prevalence of violent, adult, and sexual content on social media platforms has contributed to the growing demand for parental control software. These solutions empower parents by allowing them to actively monitor and control their children's activities on social media, helping mitigate potential risks associated with inappropriate content and online interactions.
as the use of social media continues to expand, particularly among younger demographics, the importance of implementing safeguards like parental control software becomes increasingly evident. By utilizing these tools, parents can strike a balance, allowing their children to benefit from the positive aspects of social media while protecting them from potential harm and ensuring a safer online experience.
Report Attribute/Metric | Details |
---|---|
Market Opportunities | Emerging demand for advanced AI/ML-powered parental control apps/software |
Market Dynamics | Increasing awareness about the benefits of parental control software The rapid expansion of digital content |
Parental Control Software Market Size was valued at USD 1.3 billion in 2021. The parental control software market industry is projected to grow from USD 1.4 Billion in 2022 to USD 2.45 billion by 2030, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.26% during the forecast period (2022 - 2030).
The growing concern among parents about online safety and security, as well as the increasing preference for cloud-based parental control software solutions, are driving the growth of the parental control software market.
Figure 1: Parental Control Software Market Size, 2023-2032 (USD Billion)
Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database, and Analyst Review
Growing government regulations to standardize digital content for children's safety to propel market growth
Social media platforms and applications have grown rapidly and are expected to be the most important source of data, engagement, and information exchange. Online information can be helpful to children in a variety of educational, social, and entertaining ways. However, there are perceived risks associated with peer-to-peer communication made possible by the internet, particularly about issues with internet content, behavior, and interaction. Parental control tools can be used by parents to restrict their kids' access to inappropriate social media content and to protect them from unethical practices like cyberbullying.
Governments worldwide are working to make digital media applications safe for children. For example, in August 2021, the Chinese government directed gaming companies to reduce children's content and limit online video game time for children younger than 18. Furthermore, the Indian government announced new digital content regulations and guidelines in February 2021. According to these rules and guidelines, OTT platforms for those over the age of 13 must implement parental lock solutions for the classified range. Combined with parental guidance, such regulations, and guidelines are expected to drive revenue growth in the parental control software market.
Based on the device type, the parental control software market segmentation includes computer & video games and mobiles & digital television. The mobile & digital television segment held the majority share in 2021, accounting for approximately 41-45% of the parental control software market revenue owing to the increasing utilization of such devices amongst children. Parents install parental control software on smartphones to keep their children from continuous internet access. A smart device is an electronic gadget that can share and interact with its user and other smart devices. In 2020, 61% of people in the population will own a smart device. In recent times smartphones and tablets have gained immense popularity among consumers and have become an integral part of human lifestyle, including kids.
Based on the platform, the parental control software market segment includes iOS and android & windows. Android & windows dominated the market in 2021 and are expected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period of 2022-2030. Windows operating system comes with a built-in parental control tool that allows blocking websites for free. It includes online activity reports and blocks any sites, apps, or games you don’t want them to access. This parental control software limits users’ screen time controls their purchasing activity, and tracks their location. The growing popularity of windows systems and the provision of advanced software motivates the product’s market.
Based on the deployment, the parental control software market segment includes on-cloud and on-premise. The on-cloud segment had the highest market revenue share in 2021. Cloud parental control software is a type of software that helps parents manage their children's online activities. It allows parents to monitor and restrict their children's access to websites, social media platforms, and other online resources. It can also help parents set time limits for their children's online activities. Cloud-based software is more in demand as the tools are hosted remotely on the vendor’s server and are extremely stable with less downtime. It is offered on a subscription basis. Users must pay a monthly, quarterly, or annually recurring fee to use the software and receive automatic updates and support services.
Figure 2: Parental Control Software Market By Type, 2022 & 2030 (USD Billion)
Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database, and Analyst Review
Based on the application, the parental control software market segment includes residential and education institutes. The residential segment had the highest market revenue share in 2021. The segment's growth can be attributed to increasing demand for monitoring and controlling various devices in the household, such as smart TVs, set-top boxes (STB), gaming consoles, smartphones, and tablets, among others. Moreover, the rising adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) by major players to offer enhanced features is expected to drive industry growth over the forecast period.
Furthermore, the educational institutes' segment is expected to register a significant CAGR from 2023 to 2030, owing to growing concerns regarding safety and security among school authorities across North America and Europe Pacific. In addition, government initiatives promoting digital transformation at schools are further anticipated to propel industry expansion over the forecast period, particularly in developed economies like the U.S.
By Region, the study provides market insights into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World. The North American parental control software market is anticipated to expand at a significant CAGR during the study period, accounting for USD 1.3 billion in 2021 owing to increasing cases of cyber-crimes, rising awareness about online safety, and the presence of many prominent players. North America has the largest parental control software market share due to the early implementation of digitalization in the education segment. Government restrictions governing children's online safety are accelerating software adoption in North America. Children's information is protected by laws such as the Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the U.S. The rise in cybercrimes such as cyberbullying, sexual harassment, and child abuse is causing parents to become more conscious of the significance of lodging software on their children's devices.
Moreover, the major countries covered in the market report include the United States, Germany, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Australia, China, South Korea, and Brazil.
Figure 3: Parental Control Software Market By Region 2021
Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database, and Analyst Review
The European parental control software market is the world's second-largest. The growth of this region is mainly attributed to increased penetration of the internet and the rapidly rising use of smart devices. The growing adoption of newer technology at a rapid pace compared to other parts of the world has increased the screentime of the younger population driving the demand for parental control software. Besides, the emergence of new entrants and the steady increase in the availability of adequate software will result in the market growth in the coming years. Further, the U.K. parental control software market held the largest market share, and the France parental control software market was the fastest-growing market in the European region.
The Asia Pacific parental control software market is expected to grow at the fastest rate of CAGR during the forecast period owing to increasing government initiatives for implementing parental control software solutions coupled with growing concerns regarding child pornography and sexual abuse. Moreover, availability and ease-of-use features are likely to contribute towards higher adoption rates across this region. For instance, a Cybersitter allows parents to live outside their home country (parental control) or inside their home country (on demand). In addition, key players look to the region as an opportunistic region for establishing their business network. With the growing number of e-learning and distance learning courses, educational institutes across countries such as India, South Korea, China, and more are focusing on strengthening the digital well-being of students. Moreover, China’s parental control software market held the largest market share. The Indian parental control software market was the fastest-growing market in Asia-Pacific.
The market's leading players collaborate with network providers, Wi-Fi router enablers, telecom providers, smartphone and gadget manufacturers, and others to boost their industry share. The firms hope to provide enhanced parental control resolutions to help children learn in a safer and healthier online environment. Moreover, market participants are concentrating on creating mint features and goods to increase their market ranks. These businesses put much money into R&D to create new goods and expand their business.
NortonLifeLock Inc is a leading company offering consumer Cyber Safety. It is devoted to keeping people cyber-safe everywhere with award-winning services and products. The company believes that the digital world is only truly empowering when people are assured about their online privacy, identity, and security theft protection. In August 2021, Norton LifeLock Inc entered a partnership with Avast. The main objective behind this partnership was to strengthen digital security and privacy. Moreover, it also aimed to improve cloud-based solution portfolios such as parental control software. This partnership helped both companies to grow their market in terms of revenue and attract more customers.
McAfee (U.S.)
Avanquest (France)
Bitdefender (Balkans)
Webroot (U.S.)
Verizon (U.S.)
CyberPatrol (England)
IwantSoft (UK)
SaferKid (California)
Net Nanny (U.S.)
Norton (U.S.)
Mobicip (U.S.)
February 2022: Qustodio partnered with France-based Bouygues Telecom to offer children digital and online safety with its next-generation control tools for parents. The companies are entering the France market with their cross-platform services for iOS phones, Android, Windows, Chromebook, Mac, and Kindle through the partnership.
December 2020: SafeToNet Limited acquired Net Nanny’s parent company Content Watch Holdings Inc, based in Philadelphia. Together, the company aims to offer artificial intelligence-based children's safety solutions.
March 2021: YouTube launched parental control solution. Supervised accounts to support parents in monitoring and blocking access to restricted links and content on YouTube. It allows supervision of the kids’ downloads, activity, and usage habits.
Computer & Video Games
Mobiles & Digital Television
iOS
Android & Windows
On-Cloud
On-Premise
Residential
Education Institutes
North America
US
Canada
Europe
Germany
France
UK
Italy
Spain
Rest of Europe
Asia-Pacific
China
Japan
India
Australia
South Korea
Australia
Rest of Asia-Pacific
Rest of the World
Middle East
Africa
Latin America
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