Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, along with a bipartisan group of more than 40 attorneys general in other states and territories, wants Facebook to reconsider launching Instagram for Kids. Landy fears a child-friendly Instagram for ages 13 and under will be misused by predators.
“It could be used as a recruiting tool for those that want to prey on kids, cyberbully, I mean the list goes on and on. I’ve said all along, the most dangerous thing a parent can put in a child’s hand is a smartphone,” said Landy.
Landry said while the internet can be a great resource for kids it is also a great resource for those looking to take advantage of children and fears that Instagram for Kids is another method for social media to gain insight on a vulnerable population.
“What they’re trying to do is exploit our children and data mine from those kids. Quite frankly I’m sick and tired of social media companies basically exploiting citizens for the data that they mine,” said Landry.
Those against Instagram for Kids claim children lack the ability to understand privacy and say Facebook and Instagram reported 20 million child sexual abuse images last alone. Landy said it only continues to get worse.
“It’s reached basically an epidemic proportion of which people out there are exploiting our kids and this is just another vehicle that will be used in that exploitation,” said Landry.
Another report found a 200-percent increase in recorded instances in the use of Instagram to target and abuse children over a six-month period in 2018. In March Facebook, which owns Instagram, announced the launch for preteens.
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