Children's health advocates are urging Facebook to ditch the Intagram for Kids project

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Photo courtest of engadget and Gizmochina

After releasing Messenger Kids, Facebook is now moving on to develop another version of the Instagram app that is tailored for children under 13. However, it looks like the process will not be a smooth one as an international coalition of children's health advocates is urging Mark Zuckerberg to abandon the project.

The youth advocacy non-profit the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has written an open letter to Zuckerberg due to his plan to develop a photo-sharing platform for young people. In the letter, it is stated that Instagram "exploits young people's fear of missing out and desire for peer approval to encourage children and teens to constantly check their devices and share photos with their followers. The platform's relentless focus on appearance, self-presentation, and branding presents challenges to adolescents’ privacy and wellbeing."

This is not the first time that the Facebook CEO faces such a circumstance. Messenger Kids has also gotten the attention of several children's health advocates by stating the app will "undermine children's healthy development through excessive use of digital devices and social media". However, Facebook claimed that it had consulted multiple experts during the app's development, but it turned out the company had financial relationships with many of the people and organisations that participated in the development of the product.

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