Facebook forced to delete “Instagram Kids”: “Maniac’s paradise”

Instagram, owned by Facebook, announced in a blog post Monday that it had abandoned development of its " Instagram Kid s" service, which was supposed to create a parallel version of the service for children under the age of 13. pressure from 40 state attorneys general to abandon the project because it was harmful to the psychophysical development of minors and because it would have been the "predators' paradise"), to stop the social network.

At present, many minors already use social media, due to the poor control applied to entry, with the danger of coming into contact with improper or harmful content.

Instagram Kids was born from the desire to combine the wide streams of profits that this age group can generate with the need to cope with the social pressures deriving from the deviant behaviors that the use of social media often causes in adolescents. The project was immediately opposed by the judicial authorities and by groups of parents who saw a social media dedicated to children under 13 as dangerous.

Facebook reacted promptly, insisting that the product was not "toxic," but the massive leak of internal documents showing Facebook was well aware of the negative impact its products, especially Instagram, were having on people's mental health. adolescents (even exposing young children to abuse and sex traffickers).

In April, the New York Post claimed that "Instagram for kids" would create a "predator's paradise."

In a statement released on its blog, Instagram said it was "pausing" Instagram Kids, but firmly intending to come back to it later after working with lawmakers and the public to help them understand why this type of product is needed. . "The children are already online," the company insisted in its blog post.

A simple, inevitable fact, according to Instagram, is that "the children are already online".

"… kids are buying younger and younger phones, misrepresenting their age and downloading apps designed for those 13 or older."

Additionally, Instagram said it will continue to create new opt-in security measures for parents to set on their children's accounts.

The blog post also made direct reference to the leaks to the WSJ , which showed how much Instagram knew about how its service damages teens' self-esteem and also makes them vulnerable to sex trafficking.

Facebook was aware of the research at the time it leaked, but it didn't seem to want to do much about it. And even now, with its promises of greater parental controls, the actual language is vague and undemanding: “Last week we announced that we are exploring two new ideas: encourage people to look at other topics if they dwell on content that could contribute. to a negative social confrontation and a feature tentatively called 'Take a Break', where people could pause their account and take a moment to consider whether the time they are spending is significant. '

Regardless of whether “Instagram Kids” exists or not, Facebook and Instagram insist that teens will be on social media no matter what. Instagram says it would be best if the company cultivated an age-appropriate experience exclusively for them. The best solution, probably, is to completely exclude minors from Facebook and Instagram, perhaps with a credit card check, if necessary. Look, without social media you can grow and live, very well!

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The Facebook article forced to delete "Instagram Kids": "Paradise of maniacs" comes from ScenariEconomici.it .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/facebook-costretta-a-cancellare-instagram-kids-paradiso-dei-maniaci/ on Tue, 28 Sep 2021 08:00:08 +0000.