Meta's decision to lower the minimum age to use its WhatsApp messaging service has drawn criticism from children's advocates in the UK and EU.
The move lowered the age from 16 to 13 in both regions. This came into effect from April 11th. Leading the backlash against Meta, which is also the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is UK-based Smartphone Free Childhood. “Whatsapp puts shareholder interests first and children’s safety second,” group co-founder Daisy Greenwell said in her statement.
Government officials also joined in. Conservative MP Vicky Ford told Sky News that reducing the age limit was “grossly irresponsible”. Mark Bunting, head of online safety strategy at UK media regulator Ofcom, told BBC radio the agency was already drawing up a code of practice for social media companies to follow and would levy fines once it has the power to impose them. He said he was ready.
“If they’re not taking those steps at that point and can’t show us that they’re taking alternative measures that are effective in keeping the kids safe, then we could investigate,” Bunting said. “We have the power to tell them to make changes if we think they need to.”
Meta takes more action. Critics say it's not enough
Mehta defended the move in a statement, noting that all users will be able to control who can add them to user groups, and that messages sent from unknown numbers can be blocked and reported upon receipt. Last February, WhatsApp introduced a feature that blocks the means of taking a screenshot of someone's profile picture to strengthen its privacy and anti-harassment measures.
Earlier this week, Meta announced that it would soon be testing a means of blurring explicit photos sent via direct messages on Instagram, specifically targeting minors. This is a component of “sexual exploitation” attacks targeting minors. And in January, Meta announced that it would implement new direct messaging controls on both Facebook and Instagram to help protect children from receiving messages from unfamiliar adults.
However, a week later, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. During his testimony, Zuckerberg was met with the attention of parents of children who have been harmed, abused, exploited or even killed as a result of their encounters with others on the social media platforms he controls.
A bipartisan panel of lawmakers harshly criticized Zuckerberg and his company, saying he had blood on his hands. Another person asked Zuckerberg to apologize face to face to his family members sitting in the gallery, which he did.
Featured image via Ideogram