Child development advocates are calling on Facebook to discontinue its new Messenger Kids app, which is targeted at 6 to 12 year olds.
On Tuesday, more than a dozen organizations and about 100 health experts sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying the new chat app will likely damage a child's healthy development.
The effort is led by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), an advocacy organization working to combat exploitative marketing to children. Other groups who signed the letter include the ACLU of Massachusetts, Media Education Foundation, Defending the Early Years and Parent Coalition for Student Privacy.
"Raising children in our new digital age is difficult enough," the letter said. "We ask that you do not use Facebook's enormous reach and influence to make it even harder."
The experts argue that younger children are not ready to have social media accounts.
"They are not old enough to navigate the complexities of online relationships, which often lead to misunderstandings and conflicts even among more mature users," according to the letter.
In addition, the organizations said the demographic doesn't have a fully developed understanding of privacy, such as what content is appropriate to share with friends or who has access to their conversations, photos and videos.
In December, Facebook unveiled Messenger Kids, which lets young users talk to their friends and make video calls. Facebook's policy still requires users to be at least 13 to sign up for the main site.
Facebook (FB) said it took steps to address concerns, such as working with a committee of about a dozen experts and more than 250 online safety organizations to develop the app. It also met with parents across the U.S. to hear the major concerns about their kids using technology.
The company also put in safeguards for cyberbullying, such as the ability to flag inappropriate content and block users. The app does not include ads.
However, even those steps are not enough to quell those experts' fears.
"Even if these safeguards are effective, the app's overall impact on families and society is likely to be negative, normalizing social media use among young children and creating peer pressure for kids to sign up for their first account," the letter said.
A Facebook spokeswoman told CNN Tech the company has no plans to shut down the Messenger Kids app.
"Messenger Kids is a messaging app that helps parents and children to chat in a safer way, with parents always in control of their child's contacts and interactions," Facebook said in a response to the letter. "We continue to be focused on making Messenger Kids be the best experience it can be for families."
Continue Reading: Health experts urge Facebook to shut down Messenger Kids
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