The announcement comes after weeks of intense scrutiny and criticism. The company faced fierce backlash after an internal document revealed Instagram’s alarming impact on the mental health of teenage girls. Consequently, politicians in the United States demanded that Facebook withdraw its Instagram Kids project. While welcoming Facebook’s move, US Government representatives said that a “pause” is not enough, and called for the project to be scrapped entirely. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said that the company believes “developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for children” is a greater solution for parents. He added that the company aims to address concerns with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators.
Policymakers Welcome the Move
The decision to suspend work on the Instagram Kids app follows an explosive Wall Street Journal report from earlier this month. The report uncovered internal studies that revealed that the app greatly exacerbated body image issues among teenagers. It also found that 13% of UK users and 6% of US users blamed Instagram as the source of their suicidal thoughts. Policymakers in the United States reacted to the news by demanding answers from Facebook. Some even called on the company to scrap the Instagram Kids project. On Monday, September 27, Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., put out a statement in response to Facebook’s decision, calling for a complete shutdown on Instagram for Kids. “We are pleased that Facebook has heeded our calls to stop plowing ahead with its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children. A ‘pause’ is insufficient, however,” the lawmakers said. “Facebook has completely forfeited the benefit of the doubt when it comes to protecting young people online and it must completely abandon this project.”
Instagram’s Position on Services for Children
Facebook has consistently defended its efforts to create targeted services for children. In fact, the company put out a recent blog post clarifying some of the findings from the Wall Street Journal report. Pratiti Raychoudhury, Head of Research at Facebook, said that Instagram helped teenage girls deal with well-being issues. According to Raychoudhary, Instagram’s research found that teenage girls who said they struggled with those difficult issues also said the app made them feel better. She clarified that body image was the only area where teen girls who reported struggling with the issue said Instagram made it worse. Adam Mosserri defended Instagram Kids and believes that specifically designed services offer the best solution since children are already online. “Critics of ‘Instagram Kids’ will see this as an acknowledgment that the project is a bad idea. That’s not the case. The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is far better for parents than where we are today,” he said. Apart from kids, the platform will also work on expanding its parental controls to teen accounts. “These new features, which parents and teens can opt into, will give parents the tools to shape their teen’s experience meaningfully,” Mosseri added. To learn more about how to protect your kids on Instagram, view our guide here.
