How can PHP developers ensure that only certain tags are replaced in messages to avoid unintended formatting changes or security risks?

To ensure that only certain tags are replaced in messages, PHP developers can use the `strip_tags()` function to strip all HTML and PHP tags from a string, except the ones specified in the allowed list. By specifying the allowed tags as the second parameter of the function, developers can prevent unintended formatting changes or security risks.

$message = "<p>This is a <strong>message</strong> with <script>alert('XSS attack')</script> tags.";
$allowed_tags = '<strong><em>';
$clean_message = strip_tags($message, $allowed_tags);

echo $clean_message;