Facebook puts Instagram Kids on hold amid criticism of planned app


 

Instagram has hit pause on a new app it is creating for kids, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook Inc said on Monday, in a move that comes amid growing opposition for the project.

Instagram Kids had been touted as requiring parental permission to join, and was supposed to provide ad-free, age-appropriate content, but U.S. 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 said in a blog post that building Instagram Kids was the right thing to do, but that it was pausing the work and would 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 were app versions of Alphabet Inc's YouTube and ByteDance's TikTok for those under 13.

Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, said on Monday that the company is exploring features that would "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. He spoke in an interview at the Atlantic Festival.

Four Democratic lawmakers including U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal said on Monday they were pleased by Facebook's decision but said the pause "is insufficient."

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