Instagram bosses are making moves to create a version of the picture-sharing app for children under the age of 13.
As it stands, the current app only allows people above the age of 13 to create an account, however it is well known that many users lie about their date of birth when signing up.
The app has recently been implementing new features to ‘make Instagram safer for the youngest members of our community’, with Vice President of Product Vishal Shah reportedly telling employees the company is making ‘youth work’ a priority.
It’s unclear what the child-friendly app will consist of, or whether it will be like-for-like of the original, but it all ties in with the technology company’s bid to protect younger users.
The post reportedly said work on the new app would be overseen by Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri and led by Vice President Pavni Diwanji, who joined the company from Google in December.
The news comes just days after it was announced adults would no longer be able to DM under 18s who were not following them back. If they attempt to do so, they’ll receive a message telling them they cannot message that particular person.
During the announcement, Instagram bosses acknowledged the issue around underage teens and kids signing up to the app by lying about their age, explaining that it is developing technology that will be capable of predicting the age of users from their images.
The blog post explained, ‘To address this challenge, we’re developing new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to help us keep teens safer and apply new age-appropriate features.’
Moves to protect younger users come after reports the app has played a big part in bullying and abuse suffered by children and teens
