Meta defended their lowering of age restrictions for WhatsApp, saying: "We give all users options to control who can add them to groups, and the first time you receive a message from an unknown number we give you the option to block and report the account."
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00:00 "WhatsApp is sending a message to parents through reducing the age, saying that this
00:04 is a safe app for those who are aged 13 and over. So we think it's tone deaf but it's
00:09 also you know it's negligent, they're not giving any information about how they're going
00:14 to protect all the new users on the site or how they're actually going to enforce their
00:19 own rules."
00:20 Daisy and her friend Claire found themselves concerned about the online safety of their
00:23 children but they didn't expect the local WhatsApp group for parents they started to
00:27 attract thousands of members in a matter of months.
00:30 Since starting smartphone free childhood they've spoken to countless concerned parents and
00:34 many experts who say the harms to children of early internet and smartphone use are multifaceted.
00:39 "It ranges from just the very basic of sleep disruption, kids are up all night on their
00:45 class WhatsApp group, WhatsAppping and teachers saying kids are coming in exhausted, their
00:48 mood is awful, like they can't concentrate, to bullying. Most bullying happens online
00:54 now, cyber bullying, so kids that age aren't that good at navigating these issues, social
01:01 interactions online, so there's a lot of bullying that goes on there. Grooming, kids can be
01:04 added to a group without their permission, there could be anyone on that group and they
01:10 won't necessarily know, they won't necessarily be who they say they are."
01:14 "They have said that they're putting in place safety measures to protect users including
01:19 protecting young people from seeing explicit images. Are they doing enough?"
01:23 "It's definitely a step in the right direction and it's great that they're doing anything
01:27 but it definitely doesn't go far enough. These are the brightest minds in Silicon Valley,
01:33 these huge tech companies, they could protect our children more."
01:36 "Are you happy with what has been agreed in the online safety bill, what's been put in
01:40 place?"
01:41 "We think it's great but there's so much more that needs to be done and it feels to us like
01:46 the tide is really turning, people are starting to recognise that this is a big problem and
01:51 we need to do something about it and it feels like government is now starting to listen
01:56 and figure out what they can do beyond the online safety act."