Instagram is working on a version of the service suitable for kids under 13; source: the work will be led by Pavni Diwanji, a VP who joined Facebook in December

BuzzFeed News 2021-03-20

Context & Ripple Effects

Instagram had previously been enforcing its age floor by proactively locking under-13 accounts, while its more recent safety policy focused on limiting contact between teens and adults. Putting Pavni Diwanji in charge marks a move from exclusion and interaction controls toward a dedicated, age-specific product effort.

The proposal also sits at the start of a backlash-and-redesign arc: children’s and consumer groups later urged Mark Zuckerberg to abandon the plan, while Instagram subsequently introduced broader Teen Accounts protections.

First-order effects

Pavni Diwanji becomes the named executive responsible for Instagram’s under-13 initiative, giving the work a defined internal owner rather than leaving it within general account-enforcement policy.
Instagram must reconcile a child-oriented service effort with its existing practice of removing under-13 users from its main platform.

Second-order effects

The proposal gives children’s and consumer advocates a concrete product plan to contest, as reflected in their later call to scrap it.
Instagram’s teen-safety rules, including limits on adult messaging of teens, become part of a wider age-segmented safety framework rather than a standalone policy change.

Third-order effects

Instagram’s later Teen Accounts rollout points toward product rules and privacy settings being organized by age band, not solely through a single minimum-age gate.
If that pattern persists, platform safety strategy will increasingly hinge on whether companies can separate younger users into distinct experiences while satisfying advocates’ concerns about participation itself.

The trend: Social platforms are moving from blanket age restrictions toward differentiated, age-based product and safety designs, with child-access proposals drawing sharper scrutiny.

Discussion

@buzzfeednews @buzzfeednews on x
NEW: Facebook is planning to build a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13, according to an internal company post https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Facebook is building an Instagram for children under the age of 13, based on internal docs and interview with @mosseri. My latest with @CraigSilverman. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@adbusters @adbusters on x
Instagram exists to serve ads. So the plan is either advertising to kids, or funneling them into the advertising pipeline. Because no matter what they tell you, Facebook is not doing this out of concern for the safety of kids. https://www.theverge.com/...
@alanaevansxxx Alana Evans on x
When their platforms have more CSAM than any other platform, this is what they do? Children should not be on the internet like this!! https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@ekp Ellen K. Pao on x
What could go wrong?? https://twitter.com/...
@johnlegere John Legere on x
Would you let your pre-teens use Instagram's new kid-friendly version?https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@carlymil Carly Miller on x
Yes. Also, in researching on insta, I came across child influencer accounts with 100K+ followers, accounts run by parents. These kids are younger than 13, yet it's allowed? I'm curious what protection is in place now for these kids before expanding the age range. https://twitter.…
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
The discourse on this site about a potential Instagram Kids helps demonstrate: 1) How little people understand about the child safety disaster that is the current social media world. 2) Why counterproductive laws like COPPA are never re-examined.
@hawleymo Josh Hawley on x
Not content to sow anxiety, isolation, fear of missing out, and depression in the lives of teenagers, @Facebook @instagram now turn to children https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@willwilkinson Will Wilkinson on x
I saw somebody in some other thread say “Instagroom,” which is really all that needs to be said about this atrocious idea. https://twitter.com/...
@xan_desanctis Alexandra DeSanctis on x
I do not think it would even be possible to conceive of a worse idea than this https://twitter.com/...
@peterwsinger Peter W. Singer on x
“Facebook Is Building An Instagram For Kids Under The Age Of 13” Seriously, do they learn nothing at all???? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Nothing except everything @ekp https://twitter.com/...
@stevehiltonx Steve Hilton on x
this is pure evil from Facebook when are our pathetic politicians going to outlaw this kind of corporate child abuse kids under 13 shouldn't have smartphones let alone Instagram accounts #MoreHuman https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@yair_rosenberg Yair Rosenberg on x
At some point, we will look at social media for kids under 13 like we look at cigarettes targeted to minors. https://twitter.com/...
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
You can bet Facebook executives and employees won't be putting their own kids on it. https://twitter.com/...
@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
HEY KIDS do you have the true heart of a poster? Well, good news: internal docs reveal that Instagram is building a version for children under 13. @RMac18 and me have the details: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@gregpak Greg Pak on x
Do not let your children do this. Seriously. Do not. https://twitter.com/...
@fumi_chun @fumi_chun on x
The way bullying is going to get worse with this. No. https://twitter.com/...
@scottlucas Scott Lucas on x
The Victorians had their kids working in the coal mines. About time we sent ours to the content mines. https://twitter.com/...
@repriggleman Denver Riggleman on x
I think this needs to be thought through “just a bit” before implementing. Could be that this attracts the very thing that it's trying to protect against... https://twitter.com/...
@mikebutcher Mike Butcher on x
The only people a *child* really needs to “connect” with is their parents & their *local* network of school & the neighbourhood. That is QUITE enough. Zuck does NOT have the best interests of children at heart. He will NEVER allow his own children on this. https://twitter.com/...
@arainert @arainert on x
Lol. Hard nope. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
v curious to see how this is gonna work from a coppa perspective, aka not be super duper illegal https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@michaelluo Michael Luo on x
But what do I do about a 12 year old who tells me, nonstop, that she needs a Roblox TikTok account??? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@gaetaamy Amy Gaeta on x
Pedophiles and child sex traffickers will use this as a grocery store. https://twitter.com/...
@qanonanonymous @qanonanonymous on x
The only thing they should be building is a doomsday machine for their server rooms https://twitter.com/...
@blackamazon @blackamazon on x
So they plan on exploiting Black kids without reciprocal affirmation even earlier 🤔? https://twitter.com/...
@tamaleaver Tama Leaver on x
It's very difficult to imagine ‘Instagram for Kids’ being a good thing. Messenger for Kids is a bit of a gateway drug, getting them on FB & around COPPA. Given the myriad of challenges around identity, self-esteem and other things, esp for under13s, this doesn't seem wise at all.…
@joshedwardsfilm Josh Edwards on x
This is low-key uncomfortable...knowing everything we do about the corrosion of attention spans & addictions that can come with using social media. Maybe just let kids be kids and don't try to hook 'em up to the crack cocaine so early? https://twitter.com/...
@clareangelyn Clare Garvie on x
Let's file this under “things the world doesn't need” https://twitter.com/...
@hondanhon Dan Hon on x
I feel barely in control of Messenger Kids. https://twitter.com/...
@jgo4justice @jgo4justice on x
Hey parents, if you love how Facebook is exploiting and manipulating you, you're gonna love it's new feature to track and exploit your kids. I mean, you really can't make this stuff up. 🤦🏽‍♀ ️ https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
THE WORLD: How could @facebook get any worse? FACEBOOK: https://twitter.com/...
@gavinsblog Gavin Sheridan on x
Get them hooked early/young and build profiles of them for ad targeting. Or as Facebook calls it: “connecting people” https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
been crackin up about the art @BuzzFeedNewsArt made for this story for the last hour https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@jbillinson Josh Billinson on x
Finally, an app for all those kids who see an age requirement online and don't just say they were born in 1903 https://twitter.com/...
@abc7chriscristi Chris Cristi on x
This is what we call, “DEAD on arrival” in my house. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
@chartier David Chartier on x
What could possibly, ever, in any way shape or form, go wrong. https://twitter.com/...
@lam_barrett Lindsey Barrett on x
gentlemen, start your verifiable parental consent engines https://twitter.com/...
@elizajbarr Eliza Barr on x
Oh sure. Can't see any way in which this would go drastically and catastrophically wrong. https://twitter.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
👀the leaders have identified “youth work” as a “priority” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... via @RMac18
@qwongsj Queenie Wong on x
Curious how many kids under 13 are already using Instagram even though they're not supposed to. https://twitter.com/...
@hypervisible @hypervisible on x
These dudes truly won't be satisfied until they make life worse for every segment of the population. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
After seeing the internal docs, I asked @mosseri about it. He said there is no “detailed plan.” The thinking was that kids want to join Instagram anyway and that FB wanted to build a product with safeguards and age verification with tracking for parents. https://www.buzzfeednews.…
@rmac18 Ryan Mac on x
There are many concerns. Instagram doesn't even have a handle yet on abuse, bullying, and predation of teens currently on its platform. There is also a growth aspect to this: capturing a segment of users that will then get pulled into the FB ecosystem. https://www.buzzfeednews.co…

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