When Facebook rolled out “Messenger Kids,” an IM product aimed at the 6-and-upset, it trumpeted that during the product’s 18-month development cycle, it had been evaluated by child development experts in order to “safeguard” the young children it was targeting from harm.
As TechCrunch first reported, the social network launched Messenger Kids on Android today. The app—Facebook’s first built especially for children—hit iOS devices in December and launched on Amazon Fire tablets last month.
Facebook did not reveal that many of those experts were funded by Facebook.
Meanwhile, the foremost independent experts in kids and digital media — organizations like Common Sense Media and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood — were notified of the product shortly before its launch, and after it was too late for their feedback to affect the product design.
The Messenger for Kids app is focused on children below the age of 13 years. The app does not require any number or a Facebook account and can be used by connecting to Wi-Fi on any Android tablet or smartphone device. Parents fully control the contact list of the app and have the access to remove contacts from the app. The messages on the app can’t be hidden and they don’t even disappear, in the case a parent wants to keep an eye on the conversations.
Parents and guardians need to use their own Facebook accounts to authorise the child’s Messenger account and only approved grown-ups can contact the child through the Messenger app.
The Facebook Messenger for Kids is available as a free download and is free of ads and in-app purchases. It also comes with a one-on-one or group video calling feature with interactive masks. The feature-filled camera can be used to create videos and decorate photos to share with loved ones.