MENLO PARK (California) – Instagram has hit pause on a new app it is creating for children, said the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc yesterday, in a move that comes amid growing opposition to the project.
Instagram Kids has been touted as requiring parental permission to join, and is supposed to provide ad-free, age-appropriate content. But, United States lawmakers and advocacy groups have urged the social media giant to drop its launch plans, citing safety concerns.
“We won’t stop pressuring Facebook until they permanently pull the plug,” said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, an advocacy group focused on kids.
Instagram in a blog post said building Instagram Kids is the right thing to do, but that it is pausing the work and will continue building on its parental supervision tools.
“The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today,” it said, noting that there are app versions of Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and ByteDance’s TikTok for those under 13.
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs, in an interview at the Atlantic Festival yesterday said the company is exploring features that will “nudge” a teen away from content on Instagram that its tech system perceives could be negative, or encourage them to take a break from the app.
Four Democratic lawmakers including Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal yesterday said they are pleased by Facebook’s decision, but that the pause “is insufficient”.
“Facebook has completely forfeited the benefit of the doubt when it comes to protecting young people online, and it must completely abandon this project,” said the lawmakers, who also include Representatives Kathy Castor and Lori Trahan.
In 2017, Facebook launched the standalone Messenger Kids app, an instant messaging platform for children under 13 that is controlled by a parent’s Facebook account.
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal published a report focusing on data that suggests Instagram has a harmful effect on teens, particularly girls, and that Facebook has made minimal effort to address the issue.
Facebook on Sunday said the report is “not accurate”. – Reuters, September 28, 2021
