Facebook has paused development of an "Instagram Kids" service that would be tailored for children 13 years old or younger, as the social network increasingly faces questions about the app's effect on young people's mental health
Friends exchange Instagram QR codes at New York’s Central park on Aug. 8, 2021. Facebook paused the development of Instagram Kids amid questions about the app’s effect on young people’s mental health. (Jasmine Clarke/The New York Times)
Facebook said Monday that it had paused development of an “Instagram Kids” service that would be tailored for children 13 years old or younger, as the social network increasingly faces questions about the app’s effect on young people’s mental health.
The pullback preceded a congressional hearing this week about internal research conducted by Facebook, and reported in The Wall Street Journal, that showed the company knew of the harmful mental health effects that Instagram was having on teenage girls. The revelations have set off a public relations crisis for the Silicon Valley company and led to a fresh round of calls for new regulation.
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