This week Facebook launched a variant of its Messenger app for kids. This new version is planned at allowing kids below age of 12 to link with others under supervision of parents. Messenger Kids is being launched out for mobile devices of Apple iOS platform in the U.S. on a trial basis as a standalone messaging and video chat application. Loren Cheng, the product manager, claimed that the social network behemoth is providing Messenger Kids due to the fact that there is a requirement for a messaging application that allows children link with users they love but also has the altitude of control, which their parents wish for.”
Facebook claimed that the new application, with no in-app purchases or ads, is planned at kids with age from 6 to 12. It allows parents to manage the contact list and does not permit kids to link with anybody their parent does not accept. The social media behemoth claimed that it developed the app due to the fact that many kids are going online without safety measures. “Most of us at Facebook are ourselves parents, and it appears we were not alone when we found out that our children were getting online more and more earlier,” a spokesperson of Facebook claimed to the media in a statement.
It mentioned a research displaying that 93% of kids with the age between 6 and 12 in the U.S. have authorization to smartphones or tablets, and 2/3rd have a tablet or smartphone of their own. “We need to help make sure that the experiences our children have when employing technology are safer, positive, and age-appropriate, and we think that teaching children how to employ tech in positive manners will later bring enhanced experiences as they age,” the firm claimed.
Facebook’s regulations state that children must be at least 13 to open an account.