COLUMBUS – Ohio’s attorney general and his counterparts in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the territory of Guam are demanding that Facebook abandon its plan to launch a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13.
In a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Dave Yost and the other attorneys general say young children “are ill-equipped to handle the many challenges associated with an Instagram account and there is a risk that predators will cloak their identities using the anonymity of the internet and exploit children online,” Yost said
“Facebook and Instagram already have too much control over what we see, hear and buy – and when you add in the dangers of online predators and cyberbullying, it’s unsafe for children. Until Mr. Zuckerberg can prove that he’s doing more to police these platforms, he needs to stay away from our kids,” Yost said in a statement released Monday.
In the letter, the attorneys general express their doubts about Facebook’s ability to protect children on the proposed Instagram platform and to comply with relevant privacy laws, pointing out that the company has a history of failing to protect the safety and privacy of children on its Messenger Kids app, among other platforms.