Facebook is exploring the possibility of offering a version of Instagram suitable for children under 13 years of age. Yes, like an Instagram Kids.
They want to offer a Messenger Kids-style solution where parents can control and monitor their children’s activity.
A special version of Instagram for children under 13
As mentioned in a Buzzfeed report, Facebook is considering developing a version of Instagram for children under 13 years of age. This can be read in one of the leaked internal posts. In that document, two priorities are mentioned: ensuring the integrity and privacy of adolescents who use the platform, and creating a special version of Instagram so that those under 13 can interact safely.
We have already shared, a few days ago, the new measures that Instagram has taken to protect adolescents. And along with this measure, they also announced that they are working on a new AI system, which will help detect those adolescents who lie about their age. Measures that are aimed at adolescents, ranging from 14 to 18 years old.
However, it now appears that Facebook is targeting those who are not allowed to use Instagram, those under the age of 13. This new initiative will be in charge of Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, who has already worked on services designed for children and adolescents in his time at Google, for example, YouTube Kids.
So we can expect a version of Instagram with moderation controls and tools for parents to monitor children’s activity on the platform. Although there are still no details about the operation of this version of Instagram, they have confirmed that it is exploring this possibility, as mentioned by Mosseri from his Twitter account:
Kids are increasingly asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends. A version of Instagram where parents are in control, as we did with Messenger Kids, is something we are exploring. We will share more in the future.
Remember that Facebook already had a bad experience offering versions for minors with the launch of Messenger Kids, designed for 6 to 12 years. Not only did he receive strong criticism, but he also had to deal with a serious bug in the app that left children exposed despite privacy controls. We will see how the plans continue regarding this future special version of Instagram.
