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The decision comes just days after the American newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’ revealed internal Facebook documents suggesting that the company recognizes that Instagram is harmful to teenagers. The social network said that these findings are inaccurate and that, on the contrary, Instagram has been useful for young people.
Since the launch of a version of Instagram for children under 13 was announced, there has been increasing pressure on the company to withdraw from its project. Now, its director, Adam Mosseri, said that this idea will not be realized, at least for now.
According to its creators, with Instagram Kids minors would have their own online space, and thus would stop pretending their age to access the main version of Instagram. Although it was said that this application would be fully controlled by parents, it raised concerns about safety, privacy, and even the mental and emotional health of minors.
We’re pausing “Instagram Kids.” This was a tough decision. I still think building this experience is the right thing to do, but we want to take more time to speak with parents and experts working out how to get this right. pic.twitter.com/gMbPjft0CW
— Adam Mosseri ???? (@mosseri) September 27, 2021
Despite the criticism, Mosseri said she firmly believes that creating Instagram Kids is the right thing to do. “We are going to take a step back and we are going to take this time to speak and listen to parents, security experts and researchers and have more consensus on how exactly to move forward,” he said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
Facebook is pointed out as being aware that Instagram is harmful to teenagers
It is not clear if Instagram’s decision was a product of mounting pressure, but it comes just days after a report by the American newspaper ‘The Wall Street Journal’, which revealed that Facebook is aware that Instagram is harmful to teenagers.
The newspaper had access to documents that are the product of an internal investigation into how its application affects its millions of young users. Several slides of this study were known in which, for example, it is read that “one in five young people say that Instagram made them feel worse about themselves.” Or that “peer pressure, especially around body image, makes teens feel bad” or “leads them to set unrealistic standards for themselves.”
When researchers inside Instagram began studying young users’ experiences on the photo-sharing app, they found that nearly a third of teenage girls said the platform made negative feelings they had about their bodies worse, internal documents show https://t.co/JAvzKFc61q
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 14, 2021
It was even found that “teens struggling with mental health problems said that Instagram makes it worse.”
But Facebook issued a statement questioning the ‘Wall Street Journal’ report and claimed that it is inaccurate that its own research shows that Instagram is toxic to teenagers.
The company insisted on highlighting the positive aspects of its study, insisting that many of the teens interviewed felt that Instagram helped them through difficult times. This was defended before the US Senate Commerce Committee by Facebook’s director of global security, Antigone Davis.
“We totally disagree with how these reports characterized our work. So we want to be clear with what the research shows and what it doesn’t show. The research showed that many teens said that Instagram was helping them with difficult problems that are so common in adolescence, “he told lawmakers.
Today we provided Congress with the research decks that were the primary focus of the Wall Street Journal’s mischaracterization of internal Instagram research on teenagers and well-being. We published these two research decks with annotations here: https://t.co/uuu86OYqGQ
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) September 30, 2021
Connecticut State Senator Richard Blumenthal called the investigation a “bomb” and added that this is “powerful” evidence that “Facebook is aware of the harmful effects of its site on children and has hidden these facts and findings “.
What do the experts say about apps like Instagram Kids?
France 24 consulted Larissa Morón, a clinical psychologist with experience in children, adolescents and adults, who said that the greatest concern of therapists regarding the management of social networks is online bullying. He added that the responsibility of ensuring a safe environment for children on the Internet rests with both parties, although he emphasized family members.
“The parents must be present with the children, especially with young children, see what they are seeing (…) what is the message that they are transmitting to them, and then interpret and help them interpret, and do the reflection with them. The same with the adolescent, (it should) generate an open space, of open communication and explain the risks of what can be found “.
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