Time.news – Nearly 100 child and consumer advocacy groups in North America, Europe, Africa and Australia have appealed to Mark Zuckerberg to abandon a version of Instagram geared towards pre-teens.
Instagram “takes advantage of young people’s fear of getting lost and the desire for peer approval,” says the letter, signed by Commercial-free Childhood and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, among others.
“The platform’s relentless focus on appearance, self-presentation and branding present challenges to teen privacy and well-being,” the letter emphasizes, which voices concerns about predators, bullies and inappropriate content.
Instagram is considering launching an image-focused version of the social network for children under 13, with parental control. The social network, owned by Facebook, like the parent company only allows those over 13 to join, but age verification on the Internet makes it difficult to grasp all breaking rules. “The reality is that the children are online,” said Facebook spokeswoman Stephanie Otway, who was contacted by AFP for comment on the letter.
Minors, Otway added, “want to connect with their family and friends, have fun and learn, and we want to help them do so in a way that is safe and age-appropriate.”
Facebook is working with child development and mental health experts to prioritize safety and privacy, according to Otway. Instagram, which has more than a billion users, recently unveiled a technology aimed at preventing children from creating accounts and adults from contacting young users they don’t know.
The platform is also looking for ways to make it more difficult for adults who have exhibited “potentially suspicious behavior” to interact with teens.
But, the groups signing the letter to Zuckerberg object, “Facebook’s long experience in exploiting young people and putting them at risk makes the company particularly unsuitable as the keeper of a photo-sharing and social messaging site for children,” they say. , and warn that “a children’s Instagram site will subject young children to a number of serious risks and offer few benefits to families.”
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