Facebook Fixes Messenger Kids Group Chat Glitch
On Tuesday, July 23, Facebook finally got its act together and admitted that a bug in Messenger Kids let kiddos slip into group chats without the green light from their guardians. The social giant rushed to shut down the affected chats and sent out alerts to thousands of parents, warning that their little ones may have accidentally joined strangers.
What Went Wrong?
According to a statement to AFP, Facebook “detected a technical error that affected a small number of group chats.” The glitch, reported by The Verge, turned out to be a misstep where a child’s friend could create a group that included people the kid hadn’t approved. Even though parents had set limits, a few sneaky connections slipped through.
Steps Taken
- All affected group chats have now been disabled.
- Parents received an email with new resources on Messenger Kids and online safety best practices.
- Facebook pledged extra safeguards to prevent future mishaps.
Why It Matters
Messenger Kids was launched in December 2017 as a “safe playground” for children aged 6–12 under parental oversight. The app prohibits in‑app purchases and insists that kids be at least 13 to create an account. The latest slip-up comes at a time when Facebook is trying hard to repair trust after the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a raft of regulatory scrutiny.
Whether this incident triggers new privacy law investigations remains to be seen. For now, parents can breathe a little easier knowing that Facebook is actively fixing the issue that let kids talk to strangers.
