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On the 27th of September Facebook announced it would pause the development of their Instagram Kids application, after nearly 100 worldwide experts and advocates urged CEO Mark Zuckerburg to discard their plans, claiming the platform will exploit kids’ overall well-being (Collins, 2021). 

The version being designed – or rather was being designed – is supposed to be for children between the age of 10 and 12 and seems to be intended as a solution to the problem of children lying about their age in order to create regular Instagram accounts, which are currently limited to people over the age of 13 (Hurt, 2021). According to a report from Thorn – a nonprofit organization – forty percent of the children they surveyed were already using Instagram. Perhaps, these numbers won’t shock you. However, what I think is shocking is that almost a third of these children under 13 report that they’ve encountered potentially harmful experiences (Canales, 2021).

Personally, I don’t see (m)any advantages to a kids version of the application. In my opinion, children will think the adult version is cooler – or they just want to stay connected to older friends and family as well – and will continue to lie about their age. If nothing will be done about that being as simple as filling out another birth year (back in the days I did the same when all of my older friends were starting to use Facebook, and you probably did as well), nothing will change. Besides this, and far more important, how will Facebook regulate the (ages of) people that are on the kids app, when apparently they aren’t even able to manage this for the regular app. What will stop people with bad intentions from registering an account and pretending to be twelve years old? 

I think there is more to say for more actively educating and informing children and their parents about the dangers social media entails. After all, most tech moguls seem to limit screen times of their children to a minimum, and that won’t be for nothing (Rutgard, 2018).

Reference list

Canales, K. (2021). 40% of kids under 13 already use Instagram and some are experiencing abuse and sexual solicitation, a report finds, as the tech giant considers building an Instagram app for kids. [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/kids-under-13-use-facebook-instagram-2021-5?international=true&r=US&IR=T [Accessed 6 Oct. 2021].

Collins, T. (2021). Cancel Instagram for kids: It “preys” on children’s fear of missing out, advocates say to Zuckerberg. [online] USA TODAY. Available at: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/04/15/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-advocates-warning-no-instagram-kids/7221426002/ [Accessed 6 Oct. 2021].

Hurt, A. (2021). Please, Please Like Me! Social Media Poses Unique Danger to Kids, Experts Say. [online] Discover Magazine. Available at: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/please-please-like-me-social-media-poses-unique-danger-to-kids-experts-say [Accessed 6 Oct. 2021].

Rutgard, O. (2018). The tech moguls who invented social media have banned their children from it. [online] Independent.ie. Available at: https://www.independent.ie/life/family/parenting/the-tech-moguls-who-invented-social-media-have-banned-their-children-from-it-37494367.html.

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The number of cyber-attacks is growing exponentially. When comparing numbers of the first quarters of 2020 and 2021, we see a twofold(!) increase. Websites and systems of many well-known companies have already suffered cyber-attacks. “Fun” fact: in 2020, 72% percent of Dutch companies fell victim to at least one cyber-attack. The National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism and the National Cyber Security Centre state that the situation caused by Covid-19 has accelerated this trend even more. The digital risk that comes with cyber-attacks is undiminished and the permanent threat makes it necessary to pay particular attention to the digital resilience.

By now, it seems that everyone is aware of the danger of cyber-attacks. However, in practice it turns out that even fundamental measures as the use of strong passwords and fixing vulnerabilities in systems are not taken adequately. Furthermore, the steps that have been taken to increase this digital resilience on a national level turned out insufficient, which makes catching up essential for Dutch national security. In April of this year, Dutch Cyber Security Council has warned the national government again: in order to get cyber resilience back on level, an investment of at least 833 million euros is needed. If this amount will be enough to get back on track in this fast changing and developing world of cyber is certainly debatable.

The question remains whether the authorities will really listen, or understand the risks they take if they ignore CSC’s warning. The fact remains that invisible threats are often underestimated. After all, this threat may be as invisible to them as the Coronavirus was to everyone, and no one was really prepared for that security scenario to happen either.

Reference List

Brick, C. and van der Linden, S. (n.d.). Yawning at the apocalypse | The Psychologist. [online] thepsychologist.bps.org.uk. Available at: https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-31/september-2018/yawning-apocalypse.

Emerce. (2020). 72% van de Nederlandse bedrijven afgelopen jaar slachtoffer van minstens één cyberaanval. [online] Available at: https://www.emerce.nl/wire/72-nederlandse-bedrijven-afgelopen-jaar-slachtoffer-minstens-n-cyberaanval [Accessed 26 Sep. 2021].

NATO Review. (2020). Coronavirus, invisible threats and preparing for resilience. [online] Available at: https://www.nato.int/docu/review/articles/2020/05/20/coronavirus-invisible-threats-and-preparing-for-resilience/index.html.

NU. (2021). Cyber Security Raad waarschuwt voor zwaktes in Nederlandse ICT-beveiliging. [online] Available at: https://www.nu.nl/tech/6126170/cyber-security-raad-waarschuwt-voor-zwaktes-in-nederlandse-ict-beveiliging.html [Accessed 26 Sep. 2021].

Rijksoverheid.nl (2021). NCTV: Cyberaanvallen tasten zenuwstelsel maatschappij aan – Nieuwsbericht – Rijksoverheid.nl. [online] www.rijksoverheid.nl. Available at: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2021/06/28/nctv-cyberaanvallen-tasten-zenuwstelsel-maatschappij-aan [Accessed 26 Sep. 2021].

Weel, I. (2021). Het aantal cyberaanvallen groeit explosief, maar echt ongerust zijn bedrijven niet. [online] Trouw. Available at: https://www.trouw.nl/economie/het-aantal-cyberaanvallen-groeit-explosief-maar-echt-ongerust-zijn-bedrijven-niet~b332e73e/ [Accessed 26 Sep. 2021].