Instagram puts pause on Kids project amid concerns

Amid mounting criticism about the relationship between social media and young people, Instagram is ‘pausing’ a major development.

Instagram said on Monday that it is suspending development of a version of its photo-sharing app for children aged under 13, after widespread criticism of the plan, but would continue to engage with stakeholders to find the optimal pathway for Instagram Kids. Picture: Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

Social media giant Facebook has put the brakes on an ambitious project to make Instagram more child-friendly, but say they still believe they’re taking steps in the right direction.

The pause comes amid revelations published by the Wall Street Journal that Facebook knew Instagram was having a negative impact on teen mental health.

But, Facebook has responded by saying the Journal did not accurately portray the data, and that overwhelmingly young people had a positive experience with the Instagram application.

Instagram Kids – a project designed for children aged 10-12 – will still be developed by the Facebook company, but Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said the pause would enable more time to work with parents, experts and policy makers.

Instagram said on Monday that it is suspending development of a version of its photo-sharing app for children aged under 13, after widespread criticism of the plan, but would continue to engage with stakeholders to find the optimal pathway for Instagram Kids. Picture: AFP

“We believe building Instagram Kids is the right thing to do,” Mr Mosseri said in a statement on Monday.

“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.

“We firmly believe that it’s better for parents to have the option to give their children access to a version of Instagram that is designed for them – where parents can supervise and control their experience – than relying on an app’s ability to verify the age of kids who are too young to have an ID.”

The pause will enable developers time to work with stakeholders to listen to concerns and demonstrate the role of the project.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said children were already using the application, but Instagram Kids would ensure they could do it safely. Picture: JUSTIN SULLIVAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Mr Mosseri said some critics would see the pause as an acknowledgment that the project was a “bad idea”, but that the reality was kids are already online.

“Our intention is not for this version to be the same as Instagram today. It (is meant) for tweens (aged 10-12),” he said.

“It will require parental permission to join, it won’t have ads, and it will have age-appropriate content and features. Parents can supervise the time their children spend on the app and oversee who can manage them, who can follow them, and who they can follow.”

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published research commissioned by Facebook that suggested Instagram knew the app had an overwhelming negative impact on young girl’s body image.

In a rebuttal, Facebook’s head of research Pratiti Raychoudhury said it was “simply not accurate” that the company’s research showed Instagram was toxic for teenage girls.

She said that out of twelve areas on a slide cited by the WSJ, body image was the only issue girls said was made worse by Instagram.

“This research, some of which relied on input from only 40 teens, was designed to inform internal conversations … It did not measure causal relationships between Instagram and real-world issues,” she said.