Parents Worry About Safety Aspect of Facebook’s New Messenger Kids App

A new Facebook app aimed at young children is causing concern amongst parents.

The Messenger Kids app is aimed at children under thirteen years of age and is currently being trialled in America.

The service has caused so much concern in the states, that 97 US child health advocates wrote to Mark Zuckerberg requesting that he discontinue its availability.

Parents in the UK are similarly concerned according to research from Barnado’s. According to the charity;s findings, 51 per cent of parents said they would not allow their children to use it. More than half worried that the security features were not high enough and 61 per cent had issues that strangers could pose as their children’s friends.

One thousand parents took part in the survey for the UK’s children’s charity.

Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said:“It is clear that parents have concerns about Facebook Messenger Kids. While the internet provides amazing opportunities, it can also be a place of danger and too many children are groomed and abused online.

“Barnardo’s is not yet convinced by Facebook’s assertion that controls for the messaging app are stringent. Not all parents will feel confident managing their children’s accounts and we understand how hard it can be to spot whether a profile is genuine or a potential danger.”

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