Instagram announced Monday that it’s suspending development of a new app aimed at kids that’s been widely criticized by experts—and insisted the move is not an “acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea.” “We firmly believe that it’s better for parents to have the option to give their children access to a version of Instagram that is designed for them—where parents can supervise and control their experience—than relying on an app’s ability to verify the age of kids who are too young to have an ID,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a statement. “While we stand by the need to develop this experience, we’ve decided to pause this project. This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers, and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today.” Instagram has come under fire after recent Wall Street Journal reports alleged its executives were well aware of internal studies that showed increased mental-health problems and harm among the platform’s teen users.
