Instagram is “pausing” its plans to build a version of the social media platform aimed at younger users, boss Adam Mosseri has announced, amid ongoing concerns about child online safety.
In a series of tweets, Mr Mosseri said the project had leaked before concrete plans were ready and meant the company was unable to properly address concerns raised in some quarters, adding that Instagram would now “take more time” to work on it.
Reports emerged earlier this year suggesting that the Facebook-owned company had been working on a spin-off version of the app designed for those under 13 and therefore currently too young to use the main platform, with politicians and campaigners raising concerns about exposing younger children to potential online harms.
But Mr Mosseri said the aim had never been to create an “Instagram for Kids” and had instead been focused on improving online safety for young people.
We’re pausing “Instagram Kids”, although we believe building it is the right thing to do. More here: https://t.co/bwCyUn97So
Advertisement— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) September 27, 2021
“This experience was never meant for kids,” he said.
“We were designing an experience for tweens (10-12yo), and it was never going to be the same as Instagram today. Parents approve tween accounts and have oversight over who they follow, who follows them, who messages them, time spent etc.
“But the project leaked way before we knew what it would be. People feared the worst, and we had few answers at that stage. Recent WSJ (Wall Street Journal) reporting caused even greater concern. It’s clear we need to take more time on this.
“So we’re pausing. We’re going to take the time to work with parents, policymakers, regulators, experts, to demonstrate why this project is valuable, and how it helps keep teens safe. Critics will see this as a concession that the project is a bad idea. That’s not it.”
Facebook and Instagram have been criticised in recent weeks after reports from the Wall Street Journal suggested the platforms’ own internal research had shown the sites had a negative impact on teenage girls and their body image, but these findings had not been published.
At the time, online safety campaigners had accused the firm of “sitting on its hands” rather than taking steps to protect younger users.
While we stand by the need to develop this experience, we’ve decided to pause to 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.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) September 27, 2021
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But Mr Mosseri said that many children under the age of 13 were entering false birth date details in order to get onto social media and that Instagram – like others – was trying to be proactive and look for ways to make a version of the site which was more age-appropriate.
“Us pausing doesn’t change the status quo. U13s are getting phones, misrepresenting their age, and downloading 13+ apps. YouTube and TikTok saw this happening and made u13 products, we were doing the same,” he said.
“I have to believe parents would prefer the option for their children to use an age-appropriate version of Instagram – that gives them oversight – than the alternative. But I’m not here to downplay their concerns, we have to get this right.”
Mr Mosseri also confirmed that Instagram planned to introduce new parental supervision controls on the app in the coming months.
“Parental supervision was a big part of what we were already building for u13s, and in the coming months we’re going to expand opt-in parental supervision to teen accounts on Instagram, giving parents more oversight of their teen’s experiences on our app,” he said.
“We’ll continue all the work we do to keep teens safe. We’ve spent a lot of time on bullying, social comparison, and age-appropriate features like default private accounts for u18s. But we’re doing more, like building new features like ‘Nudges’ and ‘Take a Break’. More to come.”
