Facebook has launched an app aimed at children as young as six.
The social media giant yesterday unveiled a supposedly child-friendly version of its popular messaging service.
The so-called ‘Messenger Kids’ app allows children aged six to 12 to send pictures and texts and video chat just like on Facebook’s main messaging platform.
But psychologists raised fears the messaging service could get youngsters hooked on social media, while critics questioned why the website was targeting children so young.
Users on the site do not see adverts and there are supposedly strict controls in place, with parents needing to approve their child’s contacts.
It was launched in the US yesterday and is expected to roll out in the UK and other countries if it is successful.
The so-called ‘Messenger Kids’ app allows children aged six to 12 to send pictures and texts and video chat just like on Facebook’s main messaging platform
Facebook said the service would give children ‘positive, safer and age-appropriate’ technology online.
They can only use the service if a parent – who must have a Facebook account of their own – sets it up on their behalf.
They can then add contacts to their child’s account from their own friend list.
The process is simple when it comes to adding relatives or family friends, who are already likely to be Facebook friends with the parents.
But if a child wants to add a school friend who also uses the app, their parents will need to become Facebook friends.
Jenny Radesky, a paediatrics professor at the University of Michigan, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘In my research, clinical work and friendships, I’ve never heard parents say that they want their child using social media earlier.’
Others questioned why Facebook would not tighten the controls for older children already on its main platform.
The social media website came under fire last week after it emerged that half of British 11 and 12-year-olds, as well as more than a quarter of those aged ten, have their own social media profiles despite a supposed ban on children under the age of 13.
The websites do not demand proof of age when someone signs up. Instead, most ask for a user to enter their birthday, which can be easily faked.
Facebook-owned Instagram does not even ask users to do that, simply telling them they have agreed to its terms and conditions, including its lower age limit, by signing up.
The web giants are now facing calls to put tighter controls in place for children aged 13 to 18, ensuring that they do not share their location or see adverts and that their privacy settings are at the highest possible level by default.
They can only use the service if a parent – who must have a Facebook account of their own – sets it up on their behalf. They can then add contacts to their child’s account from their own friend list
But instead of changing its ways, Facebook appears to have responded by targeting younger children. Product management director Loren Cheng insisted that the firm launched Messenger Kids in response to demand from parents.
She said: ‘When we heard about the need for better apps directly from parents during research … we knew we needed to develop it.’
Miss Cheng added that the app was developed with ‘over a dozen’ expert advisors.
It was cautiously welcomed by the NSPCC.
A spokesman said: ‘Facebook’s Messenger Kids is a step in the right direction in providing safe and age-appropriate platforms for younger children.’
Children should be taught about the risks of smartphones before the age of five, a report for the journal Digital Childhood said.
It warned youngsters are having ‘tech tantrums’ because they have become glued to the devices.