‘Facebook trying to build apps for preteens for years’: Report

Facebook, which announced this week it was putting on hold the development of a preteen version of Instagram, has been attempting to build social media products for preteens for years, a new report has said citing internal documents.

Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the details about the company’s internal discussions to attract users below the age of 13 come days after reports said Facebook was aware of mental harm being caused to teenage users of Instagram.

That report, also by WSJ, has led to Facebook officials being summoned for a US Senate hearing. The lawmakers are expected to probe Instagram’s effect on teen mental health.