Meta’s decision to lower the minimum age for using its WhatsApp messaging service is sparking strong criticism from child advocates in the UK and EU.
The move lowers the age in both areas from 16 to 13; It came into effect on April 11th. Leading the charge of pushback against Meta, which is also the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is UK-based Smartphone Free Childhood. “Whatsapp puts shareholders’ profits first and children’s safety second,” said Daisy Greenwell, co-founder of the group, in a statement.
Government officials also got involved. Vicky Ford, a Conservative MP, told Sky News that lowering the age limit was “highly irresponsible”. Mark Bunting, director of online safety strategy at Ofcom, the U.K. media regulator, told BBC Radio the agency is already working on codes of conduct for social media companies to adhere to and will provide fines as it has the power to do so to raise.
“If they are not taking these measures at this time and cannot demonstrate to us that they are taking alternative measures that are effective in keeping children safe, then we may investigate,” Bunting said. “We have the authority to direct them to make changes if we believe changes are necessary.”
Meta takes further steps; Critics say they are not enough
In a statement, Meta defended the move, noting that all users have control over who can add them to user groups and that messages from unknown numbers can be blocked and reported upon receipt. In February, WhatsApp introduced a feature that blocks taking a screenshot of a person’s profile picture to strengthen privacy and prevent harassment actions.
Earlier this week, Meta announced it would soon begin testing a way to blur out explicit photos sent via Instagram direct messages, particularly to minors. This is one component of “sextortion” attacks that target minors. And in January, Meta announced that it would introduce new direct message controls on both Facebook and Instagram to further protect children from receiving messages from adult strangers.
However, a week later, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg came to a devastating hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee. During his testimony, Zuckerberg was stared at by the parents of children who had been hurt, abused, exploited or even died as a result of their encounters with others on the social media platforms he controlled.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers strongly condemned him and his company, with one of them telling Zuckerberg he had blood on his hands. Another demanded that Zuckerberg make a face and apologize to the families sitting in the gallery, which he did.
Featured image via Ideogram