Facebook bug lets kids bypass parental controls and talk to strangers – how to stop it
FACEBOOK has warned parents that a bug allowed children to chat with complete strangers – regardless of parental controls. The design gaffe meant that kids could skirt a rule that only allows conversations with users approved by parents. These parental controls are part of the main experience on Facebook’s Messenger Kids app. But tech site […]
FACEBOOK has warned parents that a bug allowed children to chat with complete strangers – regardless of parental controls.
The design gaffe meant that kids could skirt a rule that only allows conversations with users approved by parents.
These parental controls are part of the main experience on Facebook’s Messenger Kids app.
But tech site The Verge has revealed how Facebook accidentally allowed children and strangers to chat on the app.
Facebook is reportedly “quietly closing down” group chats between kids and strangers – and warning parents who use the app.
According to the report, Facebook has admitted that “thousands of users” had received a warning alert.
Facebook Messenger Kids was launched in December 2017, and is aimed at children under the age of 13.
It’s a way to get kids onto Facebook before they’re old enough to use the main app – which has a strict (but difficult to enforce) 13+ age policy.
Unlike Facebook Messenger, the Messenger Kids app has no advertisements, in-app purchases or data collection.
Parents download the app onto a child’s device, then log in with their own account to verify identity and age.
They can then create a Messenger Kids account for their child.
Children can only chat with other users who have been approved by parents.
This worked: one-to-one chats would only work with pals who had received parental approval.
But group chats made it possible for strangers to talk to children, even if they hadn’t been approved.
It’s possible that adults could have created fake accounts posing as children and then exploited this feature, too.
Keep your child safe on social media
Here's the official advice from the NSPCC...
- We talk to children about crossing the road, bullying and speaking to strangers. But what about staying safe in the digital world?
- Having regular conversations about what your child is doing online – just like you would their day at school – is the best way to keep them safe.
- You’ll be able to spot any problems, encourage them to come to you if they’re worried and make sure they know what’s ok to share online – and what’s not.
- You can find out more about the social networks, apps and games your child uses with our Net Aware tool.
- Creating a family agreement is a great way to start talking about online safety.
- It’ll help your child understand what behaviour is appropriate when they’re online. And they’ll know who they can turn to if they are ever worried about anything they see or do.
- Download and print our agreement template to get started.
Facebook’s warning message reads: “Hi [PARENT], we found a technical error that allowed [CHILD]’s friend [FRIEND] to create a group chat with [CHILD] and one or more of [FRIEND]’s parent-approved friends.
“We want you to know that we’ve turned off this group chat and are making sure that group chats like this won’t be allowed in the future.
“If you have questions about Messenger Kids and online safety, please visit our Help Center and Messenger Kids parental controls. We’d also appreciate your feedback.”
In a statement given to The Sun, a Facebook spokesperson said: “We recently notified some parents of Messenger Kids account users about a technical error that we detected affecting a small number of group chats.
“We turned off the affected chats and provided parents with additional resources on Messenger Kids and online safety.”
How to avoid this dangerous bug
The bad news is that there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.
Even if you only approved people you knew personally, your child still could have ended up talking to a stranger on Messenger Kids.
The good news is Facebook has fixed the bug so it shouldn’t happen again in future.
The best advice is to police your child when using social media apps, especially if they’re very young.
It’s also worth questioning whether or not your child needs access to social media – including one operated by Facebook, which has a poor track record on privacy, safety and security.
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Do you trust Facebook to keep youngsters safe? Let us know in the comments!
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