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Facebook postponing Instagram for kids amid uproar from parents, lawmakers

Instagram is postponing plans to release a kids version of its social media app following uproar from parents groups and lawmakers.

In a post published Monday, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri wrote they be "pausing" its plans in order to work with parents, lawmakers and other critics to hear their concerns.

But Mosseri stood firm on launching Instagram Kids, saying it provides an alternative for children who are already online and using apps like Instagram, YouTube or TikTok.

"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," Mosseri said.

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One expert, however, disagrees. Opt-in parental supervision tools for teens, like TikTok has, will not work if children can turn them off, said Titania Jordan, a chief parenting officer for Bark, an Atlanta-based tech watchdog group.

"Instead, Instagram needs to pause work on trying to demonstrate the value and need for this product and focus on how to make their existing platform, with children comprising a significant amount of its users, safer," Jordan said. "Right now, parents are at a huge disadvantage with the existing 'safety measures' social media apps have in place."

In March, Instagram confirmed to USA TODAY plans to develop a version of its app for kids, but it was in its "very early stages." The announcement spawned backlash from critics urging Instagram's parent company, Facebook, to abandon the project.

"Instagram for young children is among the greediest, most tone-deaf, and wrong-headed ideas ever to emerge from Silicon Valley," said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, then known as the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, in May.

In April, the group led a campaign along with the Center for Humane Technology, Common Sense Media and the Center for Digital Democracy along with dozens of researchers sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing their concerns.

That was followed by several leading members of Congress, 44 state attorneys general, and more than 200,000 concerned individuals joining in urging Facebook to scrap plans for an Instagram for kids.

On Monday, Golin believes their six months of pressuring Facebook paid off. In a statement, Golin said when they first learned about Instagram for kids it "was assumed the project was a fait accompli because Facebook usually does whatever it wants."

But, he said the groups thought that "the stakes were too high," to not fight the tech giant. 

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"Today is a watershed moment for the growing tech accountability movement and a great day for anyone who believes that children's wellbeing should come before Big Tech's profits," Golin said. "We commend Facebook for listening to the many voices who have loudly and consistently told them that Instagram Youth will result in significant harms to children."

Common Sense's Founder and CEO Jim Steyer said Monday that Facebook's decision to pause Instagram for Kids "is further proof" they don't care about potential harmful impacts.

"The only thing (Facebook) care about is hooking kids when they are most vulnerable, keeping them on the platform and getting access to as much of their personal data as possible," Steyer said. "This is their business model that generates billions of dollars and they are not going to jeopardize that. This is why advocates, policymakers, and parents have to continue to keep the spotlight on Facebook and hold them accountable."

Instagram on a smartphone and a tablet screen.

Facebook's decision on Monday follows a Wall Street Journal report that Instagram could have a "toxic" impact on the mental health of teenagers, specifically teenage girls. 

Facebook vice president and head of research Pratiti Raychoudhury disputed that claim in a statement Sunday.

"The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced," said Raychoudhury.

But Fairplay's Golin said on Monday that it is urging Facebook to use this "pause" to engage with independent child development experts familiar with how an Instagram for kids could undermine young children's well-being.

"We also call on Facebook to immediately release its internal research that shows Instagram is harmful to teens," Golin said. "We won't stop pressuring Facebook until they permanently pull the plug."

A similar sentiment was shared by Sens. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Congresswomen Kathy Castor D-Fla., and Lori Trahan, D-Mass. The politicians said in a joint statement they're pleased Facebook heeded its repeated calls not to do a younger version of Instagram but said a "pause" is insufficient.

"Facebook has completely forfeited the benefit of the doubt when it comes to protecting young people online and it must completely abandon this project," said the politicians who added they intend to reintroduce last year's Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act to Congress.  

On Thursday, Facebook global head of safety Antigone Davis will appear before a Senate Commerce subcommittee to discuss the potential mental health harms on teens posed by Facebook and Instagram.

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