Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended his company launching a version of Instagram for pre-teens, claiming, “there is clearly a large number of people under the age of 13” who want to use the social media platform, adding, “I think something like this could be quite helpful for a lot of people.”
“Mr. Zuckerberg, we have heard you acknowledge mistakes about your products before. There are now media reports of an Instagram for under 13 being launched. My goodness,” said Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) during Thursday’s joint House hearing on “Disinformation Nation: Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation.”
“Between this, and ‘YouTube kids,’ you and [Google CEO Sundar Pichai] have obviously identified a business case for targeting this age bracket with content, and I find that very concerning — targeting this particular age bracket, 13 and under,” Bilirakis continued.
“How exactly will you be making money, or are you trying to monetize our children, too, and get them addicted early? And will be allowing your own children to use this site with the default settings?” the congressman asked.
Zuckerberg responded by saying that his company is currently in the early stages of “thinking through” the creation of an Instagram for pre-teens, as “there is clearly a large number of people under the age of 13” who want to be on the social media platform.
“We’re early in thinking through how this service would work,” Zuckerberg said. “There is clearly a large number of people under the age of 13 who would want to use a service like Instagram. We currently do not allow them to do that.”
In response to how launching this type of service would benefit children under 13, the Facebook CEO said, “I think helping people stay connected with friends, and learn about different content online is broadly positive.”
“There are clearly issues that need to be thought through and worked out, including how parents can control the experience of kids, especially kids under the age of 13, and we haven’t worked though all that yet,” he added.
“So we haven’t formally announced the plans, but I think something like this could be quite helpful for a lot of people,” Zuckerberg affirmed.
Facebook is reportedly developing a new version of Instagram aimed specifically at children under the age of 13.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.
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