Facebook Messenger Kids app comes to Canada and Peru

Facebook’s controversial chat app Messenger Kids is making its way out of the US and into Canada and Peru. It’ll also now be available in French and Spanish. The app, which is designed for kids under 13, has been met by criticism from advocacy groups for being harmful to kids as they shouldn’t be exposed to social media accounts at such young ages. Facebook has said the app complies with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act but advocacy groups like the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood saying in an open letter that “young children are simply not ready to have social media accounts” and are “not old enough to navigate the complexities of online relationships.”

Facebook argues that with parents able to manage their children’s profile through their accounts, they can control who their children can get in contact with. The app doesn’t contain any ads or in-app purchases and it won’t require children to use their real names. What Facebook wants kids to video and text chat with kid-appropriate stickers, masks, and filters.

The app also now lets two parents manage the child’s account instead of one. And it also now shows a “pledge” when you first set up an account for your kid. The four points of the pledge are: “Be Kind,” “Be Respectful,” “Be Safe,” and “Have Fun.” These are supposed to be the “guiding principles between parents and kids that encourage the responsible use of Messenger Kids.” It’s supposedly the starting point of a discussion with your child before they start using the app.