On Monday, Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri announced in a blog post plans to pause Instagram Kids, an Instagram experience in development for people under the age of 13.
The pause comes on the heels of a recent Wall Street Journal investigation, which found that Instagram is harmful to many teenagers, especially teenage girls. According to the investigation, Facebook’s own internal research showed that among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the issue to Instagram.
Trahan and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., responded to Facebook’s decision on Monday and said the company needs to scrap its plans entirely.
Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 37, has a track record of letting his own young children use at least one of his social media company’s platforms. In 2019, Zuckerberg told Fox News that he’s allowed his two daughters — Maxima, 6, and August, 4 — to use Facebook’s video chat product, Portal, since they were 2 years old.
Short Squeez Takeaway: Doesn't look like Zuck & Co will go down without a fight. Adam Mosseri defended his company’s efforts and thinks building an Instagram Kids platform for children ages 10-12 is still "the right thing to do." Adam didn't say when Facebook will resume the project but looks like kids won't be getting an Instagram any time soon.
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