According to the leaked Facebook Papers, social media firms are aiming to target youngsters as young as six years old in order to extend their client base and boost profitability.
The corporation advertised numerous vacant positions for researchers to re-conceive all products for children aged 13 and under in an internal blog post published on April 9 and reviewed by NBC News. According to media sources, the project had already begun when the post was uploaded.
“Our company is making a major investment in youth and has spun up a cross-company virtual team to make safer, more private, experiences for youth that improve their and their household’s well-being,” wrote the author of a blog, whose name was redacted before NBC News was able to review the document.
Facebook, however, has allegedly explored how to recruit younger people, calling children ages 10-12 a valuable “untapped audience.”
The docs also include a diagram showing that Facebook aims to target users under 13 years of age, though it doesn’t discuss how they will face the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.
In a report published in September by the Wall Street Journal, the leaked documents cited internal Facebook studies over the past three years that examined how Instagram negatively impacts its user base, with teenage girls being most notably harmed.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who denied the allegations even after being shown the research, testified in front of Congress that the social media site was good for young people’s mental health.
Forsided, 01.11.2021
Source: Sputnik News