FACEBOOK is “pausing” its work on a controversial Instagram Kids app.
The app was originally designed to target youngsters aged 13 or under – but has been met with significant backlash.
It follows a damning report by Facebook that revealed that Instagram was causing harm to the body image of young girls.
According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, internal documents from Facebook show the company was aware that it was having a detrimental affect on the mental health of teen girls.
One section of the documents reportedly states: “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls”.
This quote was said to feature on a research slide from 2019.
Now Facebook says it is “pausing the work” on the Instagram Kids app.
“We believe building ‘Instagram Kids’ is the right thing to do, but we’re pausing the work,” said Facebook’s Adam Mosseri, who heads up Instagram.
“We started this project to address an important problem seen across our industry.
“Kids are getting phones younger and younger, misrepresenting their age, and downloading apps that are meant for those 13 or older.
“While we stand by the need to develop this experience, we’ve decided to pause this project.
“This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today.”
According to the WSJ, Facebook has been conducting deep research into the mental health impacts it has from 2019 to 2021.
Apparently, 32% of teenage girls said using Instagram made them feel worse about their body image.
Other shocking figures included that 13% of British teens and 6% of American teens reportedly said their suicidal thoughts were linked to Instagram.
One internal slide stated: “Teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression.
“This reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups.”
US law makers are now wanting to investigate Facebook further including The Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security which has launched an investigation.
The investigations come on top of Facebook facing backlash for plans to create a version of Instagram for children under 13.
Back in May, over 40 state attorneys general urged Facebook to drop its controversial ‘Instagram for Kids’ plan.
The attorneys general released an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg arguing that the physical and mental health of young children could be at risk if they use social media.
Concerns were raised over whether the platform will comply with existing federal children’s privacy law and whether it will be able to do enough to keep children safe.
More to come…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
