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.”

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Facebook Messenger Kids adds sleep mode

The controversial Facebook Messenger Kids app is now letting parents have more control over how long their children spend on the app. It now has a sleep mode that will let parents set predetermined times when the app can’t be used. This feature is accessible through the parental control panel, from their parents can select between weekdays or weekends as well as sleep mode’s start and stop time. If your kid attempts to open the app when it’s in sleep mode, they’ll see a message that tells them it’s in the said mode.

Since Facebook’s main app is for people 13 years and above, the target market for Messenger Kids is those from ages six to 12. They don’t need a Facebook account to have access to the app and it lets kids video and text chat with filters and gifs. Parents can control who’s in a child’s contact list and messages in the app can’t be hidden or won’t disappear. The social media platform claims that they make sure the app is safe for children to use and that they have complied with the Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act. According to Facebook, it doesn’t offer in-app purchases and your child’s information will not be used for ads. Messenger Kids has met resistance from parents, to educators, to health advocacy groups, and child development experts saying it might hamper the growth of younger children.

Source: The Verge