Facebook Instagram is reportedly working on a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13

Facebook Instagram is reportedly working on a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13

According to recent leaks, an Instagram for Kids, or Kidsstagram, is in the works. This service is targeted at those under the age of 13, whose use is currently prohibited by Facebook's terms of service. The move appears to be aimed at turning these youngsters into "lifelong grammers" by getting them hooked early on.

Facebook appears to recognize the youth market as a priority for Instagram and intends to launch a youth service designed with the unique safety needs of young people in mind. The project will be led by newcomer Pavni Diwanzi, who is familiar with this type of service. Diwanzi heads Google's YouTube Kids service and is ideally suited for this role.

The document seen by Buzzfeed News details comments from Vishal Shah, Instagram's VP of product.

Shah posted on an internal bulletin board: "Going forward, I am pleased to announce that we have recognized youth work as a priority for Instagram and have added it to our list of H1 priorities. (a) accelerating our integrity and privacy efforts to ensure the safest experience for teens, and (b) building the first safe version of Instagram for people under 13." .

The post came just two days after the company promised to do more to protect young users who are being bullied or abused on the platform. In a blog post, Instagram acknowledged that certain improvements have been delayed. Young people, this may come as a shock to you, can simply fake their age to access the service faster, the company admitted.

Additionally, there are plans to stop adults from sending directs to children who do not follow them. The company has also proposed measures to prevent adults from seeing teenagers' content in their news feeds and to encourage teenagers to keep their accounts private. All are decent ideas, but not exactly earth-shattering new concepts.

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