Messenger Kids now available

Facebook ismaking its messaging app for children available in 70 countries, including New Zealand, from Wednesday evening.

The Messenger Kids app is already available in five countries including the United States.

Its expanded roll out, with new features, has been brought forward because of countries going into lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Facebook’s global head of safety Antigone Davis said.

Every child account has to be set up by a caregiver on an authenticated device, using their Facebook username and password.

The video chat and messaging app allows communication only with parent-approved users.

You have to be 13 to join Facebook, but Messenger Kids is designed for pre-teens and is most popular among children between the ages of 6 and 11, Davis said.

There are no advertisements in Messenger Kids, and children’s information isn’t used for Facebook adverts.

Given caregivers play a large role in setting up and maintaining the app, it is hoped the app facilitatesmore parent-child conversations about technology, she said.

Martin Cocker, chief executive at online safety agency Netsafe, said the app provides parents with plenty of tools to help manage their child’s use of it.

‘‘It’s a far better place for children to be than a service designed for those 13 and above,’’ he said.

New Zealand parents would be benefiting from improvements made to the app since it was introduced in December 2017, he said.

It also provides an opportunity for parents to teach their children more generally about online safety, particularly when used alongside other resources such as Netsafe’s parent toolkit, he said.

‘‘Of course, you can’t entirely rely on the technology to keep children safe.

‘‘You still have to parent the child and look after them in terms of their digital experience.’’

Last year, the social network was criticised for a bug that allowed strangers to join Messenger Kids chats without parents’ consent.

The social media giant confirmed the glitch, saying: ‘‘We turned off the affected chats and provided parents with additional resources on Messenger Kids and online safety.’’

Facebook said the ‘‘technical error’’ affected a small number of group chats.

A Facebook-commissioned research study conducted by Ipsos at the end of 2018 found 95 per cent of children aged 7 to 12 had access to a tablet or smartphone they used frequently, and 70 per cent had their own tablet or smartphone.

It’s a far better place for children to be.

Martin Cocker Netsafe chief executive