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Facebook Pushes Pause On Instagram For Kids

Facebook Pushes Pause On Instagram For Kids

By Sulav skPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Facebook Pushes Pause On Instagram For Kids
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

A break on Instagram for children is not enough, say legislators, including Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and chairman of a small committee that will be heard on Thursday. In 2017, Facebook faced similar criticism when it released Messenger for Kids, an app designed as a way for kids to chat with family members, friends and parents. Josh Golin, executive director of the children's digital media group FairPlay, called Facebook on Monday to part with Messenger.

Facebook announced on Monday that it was halting the construction of Instagram Kids, a social media service for children under the age of 13, following harassment of children's lawyers, parents and lawyers. Facebook chief executive Adam Mosseri said the company has always been committed to Instagram Kids, but suspended the project to address its concerns. Child protection groups questioned whether Facebook's decision to suspend Instagram Kids was a sincere attempt to counter criticism of the social media platform.

Facebook announced on Monday that it was blocking the planned launch of the Instagram version for children. The move follows a report by the Wall Street Journal that Instagram could be a danger to young people and pressure from Congress to end the job. In a letter written earlier this month to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, three members of Congress called on the communications giant to suspend plans for the program.

Facebook, which has faced stiff criticism from law enforcement and its users for its plans to make Instagram for children, announced on Monday that it was suspending work on the program. Instagram chief executive Adam Mosseri said the program was aimed at children between the ages of 10 and 12. The hiatus comes after an explosive report by the Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook had found the program to be dangerous for many young people. Attorney General David H. Garner sent a letter to Instagram Manager Mark Zuckerberg on May 50 urging him to leave the program and improve the type of his under-13 children's forum, according to CNN.

Facebook has suspended its launch of the Instagram kids brand, following reports of the toxic effects of a popular app for teens. Six months after the media giant unveiled its plans to launch Instagram for children, the company said it was suspending its programs "to ensure the safety of our young users." The announcement comes just weeks after the Wall Street Journal published a report on the harmful effects of the program on teens, claiming that it is toxic to teens and can lead to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

The announcement follows a series of reports in the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is aware that the use of teenage girls on Instagram could lead to mental health problems such as anxiety. The company added that it uses internal research to promote new changes in the app. Facebook said it will do more and will release new parental monitoring tools that will allow parents to monitor their children's accounts in the coming months.

Taking Instagram for Kids "gives us time to work with parents, professionals, policy makers and regulators to listen to them and show the importance and significance of this work to today's young people," writes Mosseri. While Instagram put children aside, Mosseri said Facebook would provide parents with new tools to monitor their children's accounts. Parents can monitor the time their children spend with each version of their app, up to the age of 13, and monitor what messages their children are following, who they are following and who they are following.

Mosseri said on Monday the company believes it is best for children under the age of 13 to have a dedicated speaker with age-appropriate content, just as some companies like TikTok and YouTube have app versions for kids under 13. it would be better to have a different kind of Instagram where parents can control and monitor their experience than rely on the company’s ability to ensure that children are old enough to use the app. The need for Instagram Kids extends beyond Facebook to do anything about it, according to Vincent Raynauld, associate professor of communications at Emerson College in Boston.

The questions raised by this project focus on Facebook's problems with children's privacy and safety. Opposition to Facebook's plans gained momentum earlier this month when the Journal published an article based on leaked internal papers showing that Facebook was aware of the damage it was causing. The Wall Street Journal published another article in which it claims that Facebook is ignoring its research which shows that Instagram is toxic to the mental health of young people.

After law enforcement was forced to withdraw from the program and new questions have arisen about the impact of this category on teenage girls, Instagram is moving ahead with plans to make its own type of service for children under 13 years old. Instagram announced on Monday that it is setting up its dispute with plans to make another version of the photo-sharing program for children under 13, a decision that comes amid new criticism of the programs. Instagram chief executive Adam Mosseri said in a statement released by the media that the company has been suspended for hearing complaints from parents, experts, policy makers and regulators and will now introduce new parental monitoring tools.

The hearing follows an investigation into the Wall Street Journal on Facebook's knowledge of how Instagram affects new users, including mental health. In a statement earlier this month, Instagram representatives said the platform was a place where people could have a bad experience, that its app gives voice to the people being watched and helps friends and family stay connected.

Teens in the middle of the WSJ article say that 32% of girls who feel bad about their bodies feel bad on Instagram, according to a report posted on an internal Facebook forum and reviewed by WSJ

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