Facebook Launches Messenger for Kids
Federal law in the United States ban children under 13 years old to legally sign up for Facebook, so the social media platform has come up with a way to reach the six to 12-year old segment through their parents. Facebook announced Messenger for Kids on Monday, Dec. 4.
The idea is to make sure that parents have full control over the online experience of their children, and Messenger Kids is one such app designed to open lines of communication along the way.
"After talking to thousands of parents, associations like National PTA, and parenting experts in the US, we found that there's a need for a messaging app that lets kids connect with people they love but also has the level of control parents want," Loren Cheng, product management director for the new app, explained in an announcement on Facebook's website.
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Facebook, however, is also a company focused on marketing and studying user habits. The platform is assuring parents and users that the new app will be separate from all that, as they added in their news update.
"There are no ads in Messenger Kids and your child's information isn't used for ads. It is free to download and there are no in-app purchases," Cheng added, as quoted by The Verge.
Messenger Kids will also be exclusive to the U.S. for now, and Facebook also claims that the app will be fully compliant with the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act or COPPA, the federal law that shields children from online abuse and exploitation.
The new app offers not just text and video chat that can be managed via the parents' accounts. It also adds Snapchat-like masks and filters, including a "library of kid-appropriate and specially chosen GIFs, frames, stickers, masks and drawing tools lets them decorate content and express their personalities."
The app is now available for the iOS, and Facebook is planning to add Android and Amazon versions over the coming weeks.
