Facebook Child Instagram

Pause or Play?

Facebook pauses its development of an Instagram platform for children.

Here's what you should know:

The Concept:

Context:

What Did The Data Say?

FB released their internal research before the Senate hearing and after the WSJ report:

"I beg to differ with you, Ms. Davis. This research is a bombshell. It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children and that it has concealed those facts and findings."

Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT) to Facebook’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, who testified before the Senate Commerce subcommittee that FB’s internal research was “not a bombshell.” Lawmakers of both parties criticized Facebook, comparing the company to “Big Tobacco” – preying on children for profit.

“I still firmly believe that it’s a good thing to build a version of Instagram that’s safe for tweens, but we want to take the time to talk to parents and researchers and safety experts and get to more consensus about how to move forward.”

Instagram head Adam Mosseri, a father to three boys, announcing a pause on the development of Instagram for kids. Mosseri and Zuckerberg have said that social media can help kids with forming / maintaining connections and that their research was about learning how to improve, not capitalize on, children’s use.