More than 180k people have signed a request to the government in an ongoing complaint urging Facebook to reject its plans for an Instagram for kids.
The signatures come from three requests from generous and grassroots organizations including the Campaign for a ( CFC ) Commercial-Free Childhood, ( SOU )SumOfUs, and a joint effort led by the Juggernaut Project. The groups collectively claim that a version of Instagram – PHOTOS – and VIDEO-SHARING app with more than 1billion users – is inappropriate for kids under 13
The groups on Tuesday will plan to submit the request of the petition to the government, which began in early April, to Facebook’s leading the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday. In a statement, Josh Golin, the Operations for a ( CFC ) Commercial-Free Childhood’s managing director, said the groups will not allow Instagram to use young children as “tools in its war with TikTok” for market share.
Small Teens and even adults on Instagram struggle with the never-ending focus on appearance, the constant fear of missing out, promotion of influencer culture, and the burden to collect likes, Golin said. Instagram for young children is among the most selfish, most tone-deaf, and wrong-headed ideas ever to emerge in their minds from Silicon Valley.
In reply, a Facebook spokesperson said, We’ve just started investigating a version of Instagram for kids. We agree that any activity we acquire must prioritize their safety and privacy, and we will discuss with experts in child development, child safety, and mental health, and privacy advocates to inform it. In addition, we will not show ads in any Instagram activity we develop for people under the age of 13.
Two months before, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved plans for an Instagram for kids are in “very beginning stages,” during Congressional attention on misinformation.
The petitions for the government come as a mounting effort to stop a latent Instagram for kids is obtaining momentum. The signatures also appear more than two weeks after 44 U.S. lawyers general sent a letter asking Zuckerberg to quit an Instagram for kids.
The lawyer’s general letter came after a similar letter from nearly 100 global specialists and child advocates also led by the ( CFC )Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and other groups asking Zuckerberg not to follow through with plans for his new Instagram action.
It’s hard to formulate a less popular idea among parents, child well-being advocates, and growing activists than a version of Instagram particularly for kids,” said Josh Nelson, Co-Founder of The Juggernaut Project. That’s why larger than 180k people and counting have approved petitions calling on Facebook to scrap its plans and leave kids alone.
Those companies aren’t alone as a group of Democratic U.S. legislators repeated last week that Facebook drops any Instagram for kids policy. Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Congresswomen Kathy Castor of Florida, and Lori Trahan of Maryland, said Facebook had not yet directed their attention after conveying the company a common letter on April 26th.
Facebook has a cleared report of missing to defend children on its platforms,” the legislators said in a joint statement. When this comes to putting people before gains, Facebook has rejected the advantage of the difficulty, and we strongly urge Facebook to abandon its plans to begin a version of Instagram for kids,” the administrator said.