Instagram Kids, an app built for kids under the age of 13, has been paused by Instagram.
In a blog post by Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, he writes “We believe building Instagram Kids is the right thing to do, but we’re pausing the work. This will 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.”
The app would have been for 10-12 year-olds, removing the ads and adding parental supervision features.” However, Instagram is on the defensive since Wall Street Journal’s investigative report “Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teens…”
In a response to the article, Instagram’s Pratiti Raychoudhury, VP and head of research, claimed in another blog post that Instagram is helpful for more teenage girls on 11 of the 12 issues raised by the WSJ piece (body image being the twelfth).
The discussion around all this is what’s led to the pause for Instagram Kids, although a trio of US politicians don’t think that’s enough.
