Instagram stated that it is suspending development work known as Instagram Kids – a version of a photo-sharing app for children under 13 years of age. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the news in a blog post today, saying that the Facebook-owned company will continue to work to provide young users with a parental supervision experience.
In a blog post and a series of accompanying tweets, Mosseri accused the media and critics of misunderstanding the purpose of the app. He wrote: This is never for young children, but for teenagers (10-12 years old). In another tweet, he added that the news of this project before we know what it will be has been leaked before. People worry about the worst-case scenario, and we have few answers at that stage. Obviously, we need to spend more time on this issue.
Before suspending the development of the application, the Wall Street Journal published a series of harsh reports on Facebook last week. These reports include revealing how Instagram’s own internal research shows that the app makes girls’ physical problems worse. Facebook said that these reports misrepresented the company’s research, but it still refuses to publish its first-hand data for analysis by critics and supporters.
Mosseri pointed out in his blog post that the Wall Street Journal report caused a lot of problems for people, and said that this criticism has led to the introduction of some anti-bullying features on Instagram and that exploration may encourage readers to learn from this. The function of taking a break in the application. In the Wall Street Journal report, some of the content that Instagram and Mosseri ignored included the company’s own researchers who pointed out that users often feel addicted to the app.
The development of an Instagram version targeted at young users has been widely criticized by some groups. Facebook’s response to this criticism is that young people are already very active online, and their experience is best monitored. The company also stated that it will not display ads on the new app. However, the critics were not convinced.
Kathryn Montgomery, the senior strategist at the Center for Digital Democracy, told the BBC in April, Facebook claims that creating an Instagram for kids will help them stay safe on this platform. The company’s real goal is to extend its lucrative Instagram management rights to younger people and to introduce children into a powerful commercial social media environment that poses a serious threat to their privacy, health and well-being.
Moseli pointed out on Twitter that critics would think that Instagram’s suspension of the development of children’s apps “is a concession to a bad idea for the project” and insisted that this is incorrect. He added: I have to believe. Compared with other options, parents are more willing to let their children use the version of Instagram that suits their age-let they supervise. But I am not here to downplay their worries, we must do this right.
