Meta, the social media big behind the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp, is dealing with criticism from educators, lawmakers, and activists for its current transfer to decrease the minimal age for customers from 16 to 13.

The choice has raised alarms concerning the potential dangers posed to kids by fostering cyberbullying, sleep disturbances, and publicity to dangerous content material.

Campaigners have labelled Meta’s determination as “extremely irresponsible,” urging the corporate to rethink its stance amidst rising considerations concerning the wellbeing of younger customers. Specialists and politicians have joined forces to denounce the transfer, with Smartphone Free Childhood, a distinguished advocacy group, main the cost.

WhatsApp, being the second hottest platform amongst kids, in response to Ofcom, has typically escaped the extent of scrutiny directed at different social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Nonetheless, specialists warn that closed messaging teams on WhatsApp may be simply as dangerous, if no more so.

The federal government is now considering imposing restrictions on the acquisition of smartphones by these below 16, reflecting the growing concern over kids’s on-line security.

Daisy Greenwell, co-founder of Smartphone Free Childhood, lambasted WhatsApp for prioritising earnings over kids’s security, criticising the choice to decrease the age restrict as “utterly tone deaf.” She highlighted the platform’s potential as a gateway to extra dangerous social media apps and its position in exposing kids to cyberbullying and inappropriate content material.

Vicky Ford, a member of the schooling choose committee, condemned Meta’s unilateral determination, expressing considerations concerning the encryption on WhatsApp making it troublesome to take away unlawful content material promptly.

Latest research have make clear the prevalence of cyberbullying inside WhatsApp teams, with educators reporting situations of abuse occurring even within the early hours, impacting kids’s sleep patterns and psychological well being.

Dr Kaitlyn Regehr from College School London warned that closed teams on platforms like WhatsApp typically facilitate the sharing of dangerous content material, which might exacerbate points akin to misogyny and hate speech amongst younger customers.

Whereas Meta defends its determination by citing world requirements, critics argue that the transfer sends the fallacious message about on-line security to folks and educators. With requires stricter laws on social media use by minors gaining momentum, the talk over kids’s digital wellbeing continues to accentuate.

In a separate growth, Meta has introduced plans to introduce a nudity filter on Instagram to fight the rising risk of “sextortion,” aiming to guard customers from exploitation and blackmail.