
- #Facebook messenger app for kids update#
- #Facebook messenger app for kids full#
- #Facebook messenger app for kids android#
Messenger accounted for the majority of the 16 million cases of people sharing child abuse photos and videos that Facebook reported to the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year. The company says since the app is controlled by parents, it is safer than alternative messaging apps.
#Facebook messenger app for kids full#
It does not feature adverts and does not convert accounts into full Facebook profiles when a child turns 13. Last year a bug allowed children to bypass parental controls and chat with Messenger or Messenger Kids users who had not been approved by their parents, by going through a separate approved contact, provoking a backlash from US politicians.įacebook said it consulted with experts when developing the app. When the service was first announced, Jeremy Hunt, the former Health Secretary, criticised Facebook for launching a product aimed at children, and said that Facebook should “stay away from my kids”. Messenger Kids has been dogged by controversy since its launch, and its expansion into Europe is likely to raise concerns that the service could be misused. Last week it expanded this to more than 70 countries, although none are governed by GDPR. The company first launched Messenger Kids in the US in 2017. The DPC is Facebook’s chief data watchdog in Europe, overseeing how the company handles the data for users including in the UK. Messenger Kids, meanwhile, is designed for users as young as six, allowing them to talk to contacts that are approved by their parents.įacebook is currently assessing how Messenger Kids would comply with GDPR, the strict European data law that came into force two years ago, and which require parental consent if companies want to process data for children under 13.Ī spokesperson for the DPC said: “We have been engaged and will continue to engage with Facebook in relation to Facebook Messenger Kids coming into the EU.”

The social network is in discussions with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), its chief European regulator, about releasing Messenger Kids, an app that allows children to message parents and friends.Ĭhildren aged 12 and under are blocked from using Facebook due to laws that prevent the processing of personal data in many countries.
#Facebook messenger app for kids android#
But it’s not entirely clear how many parents are keen to push their kids inside the Facebook machine at just six years of age.įor families that prefer an Android flavor of Messenger, fret not, there will be a version arriving on Google Play and the Amazon App Store “in the coming months.Facebook is being held up in its attempts to launch a messaging app for children in the UK and Europe as it grapples with laws designed to protect the privacy of under-13s. It wants kids on board as early as possible, and it knows that some parents are eager to keep in touch with their kids through a safe environment that they can control. To target kids, you need to target the parents - and that’s what Facebook is doing now with Messenger.

And earlier in the year, the company introduced new tools to help parents stay better informed about what their kids are doing within FreeTime, its kid-friendly content service with a special whitelisted selection of games, apps, and books. In October, Amazon announced that it would allow teenagers (13 to 17 years old) to shop using separate logins that are attached to their parents’ accounts. This followed the launch of the Family Link app that allows parents to control their kids’ devices remotely.


#Facebook messenger app for kids update#
Last month, for example, Google announced an update to the YouTube Kids app, one that gives parents more tools to customize the app with individual profiles suited to specific age groups and unique passcodes for each child in a family. This follows a trend we’ve seen elsewhere in the technology realm, with companies looking for ways to hook children into their respective ecosystems as early as possible. And Facebook indicated that it won’t use Messenger Kids to monetize children directly - there won’t be any ads or in-app purchases. So what, exactly, is Facebook’s motive for opening things to younger children? That’s simple really: It’s all about getting kids on board earlier so that they are “Facebook-aware” by the time they hit 13. It’s worth noting here that Facebook itself remains closed to those under 13 years of age.
