After concerns have been raised about younger users’ vulnerability, Facebook is pausing its plan to develop a kids’ version of Instagram for children under 13. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, on Monday, in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, said:
“I still firmly believe that it’s a good thing to build a version of Instagram that’s designed to be safe for tweens, but we want to take the time to talk to parents and researchers and safety experts and get to more consensus about how to move forward.”
The announcement comes after a series of investigations by the WSJ reported that the use of Instagram had caused mental health issues and anxiety in some teenage girls. The report also said Facebook is aware of this. Consequently, the plan to develop an Instagram for a underage audience was immediately met with broader opposition.
Facebook formally announced its plan to develop kids’ version of Instagram in March, saying it was exploring a parent-controlled experience at the time. However, a bipartisan group of 44 attorneys general urged Mark Zuckerberg two months later to forget the project because of children’s well-being.
They cited the possibility that children’s information might be vulnerable to online predators. Mosseri, on the other hand, said in a tweet on Monday that building a platform for kids is the right thing to do. Moreover, the company wants to speak with parents and experts on resuming the project.
While pausing the development of Instagram Kids, Mosseri, in a blog post on Monday, said the company is building parental supervision tools that will allow parents to oversee their children’s accounts.
