Parents 'terrified' by self-harm groups as WhatsApp lowers minimum age

Meta owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads WhatsApp is under fire for reducing the app’s minimum age as an investigation revealed children as young as nine have been added to malicious groups – including those promoting self-harm. The BBC found children in primary schools had also been exposed to sexual violence and racism on the app. In Tyneside, Northumbria Police have sent thousands of parents a warning about the dangerous groups.

‘Reducing their age of use from 16 to 13 years old is completely tone deaf and ignores the increasingly loud alarm bells being rung by scientists, doctors, teachers, child safety experts, parents and mental health experts alike.’ Speaking to The Times, she added: ‘Among parents, WhatsApp is seen as the safest social media app, “because it’s just messaging, right?”. ‘And in that way it works like a gateway drug for the rest of the social media apps.

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