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Messenger kids app11/7/2023 ![]() Meta, and with its platforms like Instagram and Facebook, Chester added, “are at the center of a powerful commercialized social media system that has spiraled out of control, threatening the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” Jeffrey Chester, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy, called it a “a long-overdue intervention into what has become a huge national crisis for young people.” “Despite the company’s promises that children using Messenger Kids would only be able to communicate with contacts approved by their parents, children in certain circumstances were able to communicate with unapproved contacts in group text chats and group video calls,” the FTC said. The FTC also said Facebook, from late 2017 until 2019, “misrepresented that parents could control whom their children communicated with through its Messenger Kids product.” The FTC said the assessor “identified several gaps and weaknesses in Facebook’s privacy program.” The 2020 privacy order, which required Facebook to pay a $5 billion fine, required an independent assessor to evaluate the company’s privacy practices. “Video chat is the cornerstone of Messenger Kids product.The FTC now says this has not been the case. “Kids want in-the-moment communication,” product management director Loren Cheng said in a briefing. Unlike the flagship Messenger app, “Kids” makes video chat front and center on its home screen. For the launch, Facebook partnered with the environmental nonprofit the World Wildlife Fund to create an underwater augmented reality experience that lets kids scuba-dive to explore the ocean. In addition to prioritizing safety, Facebook also launched the sister app with a revamped design and kid-friendly features like Instagram- and Snapchat-like masks, emojis, stickers, frames, drawing tools, GIFs and sound effects that will be regularly updated. A Facebook study completed with the National PTA found among about 1,200 American parents surveyed, 81% said their children started using social media between the ages of eight and 13. Facebook said it started seriously working on the new app about 18 months ago and has since spoken to thousands of parents across the country. ![]() The app is designed to be compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act. Kids are not able to hide or delete any messages, but can potentially send or receive outside links, Facebook said. Facebook said it expects parents to monitor kids' conversations on the app by looking at the child’s actual device (parents cannot read kids' conversations through the main Messenger app). There is also a feature to help parents control the time children spend on the app.īefore building the product, Facebook created an advisory committee with individuals with expertise in child development, child and media health and internet safety from organizations such as Connect Safely and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Facebook said it expects the typical "Kids" user to be between ages six and 11 years old. The app also features resources for parents about how to have conversations with their children about online safety, as well as tools to alert parents if their child has been exposed to inappropriate content, particularly nudity, graphic content or bullying. Photos, videos or messages sent by kids to their parents appear in parents’ regular Messenger app, so parents’ don’t need to download an additional version. The system does not allow people to search for kids. For example, if a child wants to connect with her classmate, each child's parent must first approve the connection, and both parents need to be friends. If a parent removes a contact, kids can’t have contact with the individual again without approval. Then, parents must individually approve or decline contact requests through the “Messenger Kids Controls” panel in the main Facebook app. Parents must set up their kids’ accounts and use their main Facebook app username and log in to approve each device the child uses. “Kids” is designed primarily to protect children from communicating with strangers and potentially harmful people or bullies, while emphasizing video chat and playful masks and effects. Facebook expects the app to become available nationwide by the end of 2017 and on Android and Kindle in 2018. The new app, “Messenger Kids,” started rolling out on iOS mobile devices in the U.S.
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