UltraViolet Celebrates Activism Forcing Instagram to Pause the Rollout of Instagram Kids
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, September 27, 2021
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna@unbendablemedia.com
UltraViolet Celebrates Activism Forcing Instagram to Pause the Rollout of Instagram Kids
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Instagram announced that it would be pausing the creation of “Instagram Kids.”
In reaction to the announcement Bridget Todd, Communications Director for UltraViolet, a leading national gender-justice organization that has campaigned against the launch of Instagram Kids, issued the following statement:
“We welcome reports that Instagram will be pausing the development of Instagram Kids, while acknowledging that a pause is not enough: Instagram must commit to fully scraping the project. Excessive use of digital devices and social media is harmful to adolescents, especially teenage girls, and recent reports have revealed that even Facebook knows that to be true.
“Instagram, in particular, exploits young people’s fear of missing out and desire for peer approval to encourage children and teens to constantly check their devices and share photos with their followers. The platform’s relentless focus on appearance, self-presentation, and branding presents particular challenges to girls privacy and wellbeing. For young BIPOC girls and LGBTQ kids these pressures are compounded by systemic racism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia that are rampant on these platforms.
“We will celebrate Facebook’s decision to listen to the many voices who have come forward to warn against the dangers of Instagram Kids when they permanently announce they will no longer be launching the platform, but today’s pause is good news. We call on Facebook to immediately release any data or internal research that showed the harms that Instagram posed to children and permanently pull the plug on rolling out Instagram Kids.
“All children deserve a childhood free from the grips of social media platforms like Instagram. Facebook should use this time to focus its energy on addressing the real racist and misogynist harms that exist on its platform, not on creating new harms especially for young girls”
VIEW ULTRAVIOLET’S PETITION HERE: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/tell-facebook-to-abandon-its-plans-to-target-young-children-on-instagram?source=direct_link&referrer=group-ultraviolet
# # # # #