Reverends, rabbis and other religious leaders on Tuesday called on Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg to permanently halt the company’s plan to launch a version of Instagram aimed at young users, in a letter sent by the group. Fairplay advocacy and its Children’s Screen Time Action Network.
Since September of last year, Instagram has put on hold its plans to release a children’s version of the app, as opposition to the project grew.
“After much meditation and prayer, we affirm that social media platforms that target immature brains, practice unethical data mining and are inspired by profit are not a tool for the greater good of children,” said the letter, signed by more than 70 religious leaders.
Instagram and its proprietary company, Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, are under intense scrutiny over the potential impact of their services on the mental health, body image and safety of young users, including after whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal documents about the approach. company to younger users.
Meta said the leaked documents were used to paint a false picture of the company’s work. The company also said that the idea of ​​creating an Instagram for kids was to provide a more dedicated and safe place for younger users to interact with the service.
The letter from the religious groups, which cited the Bible, the Koran, Pope Francis and Buddhist monk ThÃch Nhất Hạnh, asked Zuckerberg, as someone who has said in the past that religion is “very important”, to acknowledge spiritual and secular concerns. around the project.
Instagram declined to comment on the letter.
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