Both groups have received funding from Facebook and each has at least one representative on Facebook’s 13-person advisory board for Messenger Kids.

Several children-focused nonprofit groups endorsed Facebook’s approach, including ConnectSafely and Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). Since kids cannot be found in search, parents must initiate and respond to friend requests.

Parents download Messenger Kids on their child’s account, after verifying their identity by logging into Facebook. The company said its 100-person team building apps for teens and kids consulted with parent groups, advocates, and childhood-development experts during the 18-month development process and the app reflects their concerns. Golin says 11-to-12-year-olds who already have a Facebook account, probably because they lied about their age, might find the animated emojis and GIFs of Messenger Kids “too babyish,” and are unlikely to convert to the new app.įacebook launched Messenger Kids for 6-to-12-year olds in the US Monday, saying it took extraordinary care and precautions. Critics think Facebook is targeting children as young as 6 to hook them on its services.įacebook’s goal is to “push down the age” of when it’s acceptable for kids to be on social media, says Josh Golin, executive director of Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. Facebook says it built Messenger Kids, a new version of its popular communications app with parental controls, to help safeguard pre-teens who may be using unauthorized and unsupervised social-media accounts.

Parental control on facebook app