January 30, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg
Chief Executive Officer
Facebook, Inc.
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Re: Facebook Messenger Kids
Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,
We are writing to urge you to discontinue Messenger Kids, Facebook’s first social media app
designed specifically for children under the age of 13. Given Facebook’s enormous reach and
marketing prowess, Messenger Kids will likely be the first social media platform widely used by
elementary school children. But a growing body of research demonstrates that excessive use of
digital devices and social media is harmful to children and teens, making it very likely this new
app will undermine children’s healthy development.
Younger children are simply not ready to have social media accounts. They are not old enough to
navigate the complexities of online relationships, which often lead to misunderstandings and
conflicts even among more mature users. They also do not have a fully developed understanding
of privacy, including what’s appropriate to share with others and who has access to their
conversations, pictures, and videos.
At a time when there is mounting concern about how social media use affects adolescents’
wellbeing, it is particularly irresponsible to encourage children as young as preschoolers to start
using a Facebook product. Social media use by teens is linked to significantly higher rates of
depression,1 and adolescents who spend an hour a day chatting on social networks report less
satisfaction with nearly every aspect of their lives.2 Eighth graders who use social media for 6-9
hours per week are 47% more likely to report they are unhappy than their peers who use social
media less often.3 A study of girls between the ages of 10 and 12 found the more they used social
networking sites like Facebook, the more likely they were to idealize thinness, have concerns

1

Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Increases in depressive symptoms, suiciderelated outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen
time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6, 3-17.
2
McDool, E., Powell, P., Roberts, J., Taylor, K. (2016). Social media use and children’s wellbeing. IZA Discussion
Paper No. 10412, Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor.
3
Ibid.

 about their bodies, and to have dieted.4 Teen social media use is also linked to unhealthy sleep
habits.5
Messenger Kids is likely to increase the amount of time pre-school and elementary age kids
spend with digital devices. Already, adolescents report difficulty moderating their own social
media use: 78% check their phones at least hourly, and 50% say they feel addicted to their
phones.6 Almost half of parents say that regulating their child’s screen time is a constant battle. 7
Messenger Kids will exacerbate this problem, as the anticipation of friends’ responses will be a
powerful incentive for children to check – and stay on – a phone or tablet. Encouraging kids to
move their friendships online will interfere with and displace the face-to-face interactions and
play that are crucial for building healthy developmental skills, including the ability to read
human emotion, delay gratification, and engage with the physical world.
We understand that not all relationships can be face-to-face. One of Facebook’s stated rationales
for creating Messenger Kids is to help kids connect with long-distance family members,
including parents in the military. But talking to family and friends over long distances doesn’t
require a Messenger Kids account. Kids can use parents’ Facebook, Skype, or other accounts to
chat with relatives. They can also just pick up a phone.
Facebook claims that Messenger Kids will provide a safe alternative for the children who have
lied their way onto social media platforms designed for teens and adults. But the 11- and 12year-olds who currently use Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook are unlikely to switch to an app
that is clearly designed for younger children. Messenger Kids is not responding to a need – it is
creating one. It appeals primarily to children who otherwise would not have their own social
media accounts. It is disingenuous to use Facebook’s failure to keep underage users off their
platforms as a rationale for targeting younger children with a new product.
We understand that Messenger Kids will not have advertising and that Facebook has stated it
will not use the wealth of data it collects from the new app for marketing purposes. We also
appreciate that Facebook has taken steps to limit common social media problems such as
cyberbullying on Messenger Kids. But even if these safeguards are effective, the app’s overall
impact on families and society is likely to be negative, normalizing social media use among
young children and creating peer pressure for kids to sign up for their first account.

4

Tiggemann, M. & Slater, A. (2014). NetTweens: The Internet and body image concerns in preteenage girls. Journal
of Early Adolescence, 34 (5), 606-620
5
Twenge, J. M., Krizan, Z., & Hisler, G. (2017). Decreases in self-reported sleep duration among U.S. adolescents
2009-2015 and links to new media screen time. Sleep Medicine, 39, 47-53.
6
Common Sense Media. (2016). Technology Addiction: Concern, Controversy, and Finding Balance. Retrieved from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/technology-addiction-concern-controversy-and-finding-balance.
7
American Psychological Association (2017). APA’s Survey Finds Constantly Checking Electronic Devices Linked to
Significant Stress for Most Americans. Retrieved from:
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/02/checking-devices.aspx.

 In the past year, Facebook has come under increased scrutiny for helping to spread false
information,8 preparing research for an advertising client on how to target teens when they are
emotionally vulnerable,9 and allowing advertisers to discriminate based on age10 and ethnicity11
and target messages to racists and anti-Semites.12 In response to some of these scandals, you
have personally vowed to “do better.”13
Doing better is leaving younger children alone and allowing them to develop without the
pressures that come with social media use. Raising children in our new digital age is difficult
enough. We ask that you do not use Facebook’s enormous reach and influence to make it even
harder. Please make a strong statement that Facebook is committed to the wellbeing of children
and society by pulling the plug on Messenger Kids.
Sincerely,
ORGANIZATIONS:
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
ACLU of Massachusetts
Badass Teachers Association, Inc.
Centre for Child Honouring
Common Sense Media
Corporate Accountability
Defending the Early Years
EPIC Privacy
Media Education Foundation
New Dream
New Moon Girls
Parent Coalition for Student Privacy
Parents Across America
Parents Television Council
Peace Educators Allied for Children Everywhere (P.E.A.C.E.)
8

Buchanan, M. (2018). Why fake news spreads like wildfire on Facebook.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-fake-news-google-facebook-0904story.html.
9
Angwin, J., Tobin, A. and Scheiber, N. (2017). Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers
From Job Ads. ProPublica. Retrieved from https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-ads-age-discriminationtargeting.
10
Angwin, J., Tobin, A. and Scheiber, N. (2017). Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older
Workers From Job Ads. ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-ads-age-discrimination-targeting.
11
Angwin, J., Varner, M. and Tobin, A. (2017). Facebook (Still) Letting Housing Advertisers Exclude Users by Race.
ProPublica. Retrieved from https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-advertising-discrimination-housing-racesex-national-origin.
12
Maheshwari, S. and Issac, M. (2017). Facebook, After ‘Fail’ Over Ads Targeting Racists, Makes Changes. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/business/media/facebook-racist-ads.html.
13
Abramson, A. (2017). Mark Zuckerberg Apologizes for Facebook's Divisiveness. Fortune. Retrieved from
http://fortune.com/2017/10/01/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-yom-kippur/.

 Public Citizen
Story of Stuff
TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Childhood Entertainment)
United Opt Out National
INDIVIDUALS:
(affiliations listed for identification purposes only)
Nusheen Ameenuddin, MD, MPH, FAAP Pediatrician
Marilyn Augustyn MD; Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine; Division
Director Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center
Sarah Baldwin, MSEd; Early Childhood Educator; author of Nurturing Children and Families;
owner, Bella Luna Toys
Criscillia Benford, PhD, co-author of Sensory Metrics of Neuromechanical Trust
Barbara Biggins OAM; Honorary CEO, Australian Council on Children and the Media; author of
Television and young children. Quality, choice and the role of parents: what the experts
and parents say; Editor, small screen
Dr. Barbara Brock, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Washington University; author of Living Outside
the Box: TV Free Families Share Their Secrets
Jacques Brodeur, Peace and Media Educator, creator of Edupax's 10 Day Screen-Free Challenge
Michael Brody MD; Former Chair of the Media Committee of the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry; Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, University
of Maryland; author of Seductive Screens: Children's Media Past, Present and Future
Cori Brownell; The Research Institute at Western Oregon University, Early Childhood Project
Specialist
Blakely Bundy, Med, Co-Director of Defending the Early Years
Natasha Burgert, MD, FAAP, Member of AAP Council on Communications and Media, Voice
for Wait Until 8th
Mary G. Burke, MD, Sutter Pacific Medical Center
Dana Burnett, Director, Kids in Common
Beryl Burns, MD

 Angela Campbell, Professor, Georgetown Law; Member, Board of Directors, Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood
Patricia Cantor, EdD; Professor of Early Childhood Education, Plymouth State University; coauthor of Techwise Infant and Toddler Teachers: Making Sense of Screen Media for
Children Under 3.
Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Professor Emerita Early Childhood Education, Lesley University;
Senior Advisor, Defending the Early Years
Raffi Cavoukian, singer, author, founder of Child Honouring
Jean Ciborowski Fahey, PhD, author of Make Time for Reading: a story guide for parents of
babies and young children
Kathleen M. Clarke-Pearson, MD FAAP; Committee on Federal Government Affairs and
Council on Media and Communications, American Academy of Pediatrics; Board
Member, NC Child, the Voice for North Carolina's Children
Joe Clement, author of Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology
Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber
Mary Cornish, PhD, Professor of Early Childhood Education, Plymouth State University; Coauthor of Techwise Infant and Toddler Teachers: Making Sense of Screen Media for
Children Under 3.
Andy Crouch, speaker, author of The Tech-Wise Family
Dr C. Glenn Cupit, Head & Senior Lecturer in Child Development, deLissa Institute for Early
Childhood and Family Studies, Universtiy of South Australia (ret); author of: Play and
quality in early childhood: Educating superheroes and fairy princesses; Child
development and education; and The child audience: A guide to the developing child for
television writers and producers
Tracy Cutchlow, author of Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science; editor of
The Brain Rules series
Gloria DeGaetano, Founder/Director Parent Coaching Institute; author of Parenting Well In a
Media Age: Keeping Our Kids Human
Tom Drummond, Instructor Emeritus, Early Childhood Education, North Seattle College
Victoria Dunckley, MD; integrative child & adolescent psychiatrist at Centre for Life; screentime expert and author of Reset Your Child's Brain; board member, Physicians for Safe
Technology and Families Managing Media

 Nathan Dungan, CEO and Founder, Share Save Spend LLC; Chair, Board of Directors,
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Dr. Marjorie Fields, Professor Emerita, Early Childhood Education, University of Alaska;
author of Let’s Begin Reading Right and Constructive, Guidance and Discipline
Julie Frechette, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, Worcester State University;
Co-President, Action Coalition for Media Education; co-author of Media Education for a
Digital Generation
Richard Freed, PhD, author of Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age
Douglas Gerwin, PhD; Executive Director, Research Institute for Waldorf Education
Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE, Founder and CEO Neuro-Bio Ltd
Lynne Reeves Griffin RN, Med; Executive Director of Proactive Parenting; author of
Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment;
Former faculty member, Wheelock College
Rachel Grob, PhD; Associate Clinical Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Former
Director, Child Development Institute, Sarah Lawrence College
Nancy Gruver, Founder, New Moon Girls
Holly Gore Groh, MD
Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, former faculty member at Pacific Oaks College; author of The Sun’s
Not Broken, A Cloud’s Just in the Way: On Child-Centered Teaching; Exchange
Leadership Master Leader
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters; Co-chair, Parent Coalition for Student
Privacy
Edward Hallowell, MD, child psychiatrist, author, and parent
Elizabeth Handsley, Professor of Law, Flinders University, Australia; Co-editor of Children’s
Wellbeing in the Media Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from the Harvard-Australia
Symposium.
Tristan Harris, former Design Ethicist at Google, co-founder of Time Well Spent
Melanie Hempe RN, Founder President of Families Managing Media
Petra Hesse, PhD; Associate Professor of Psychology and Human Development, Wheelock
College

 Carla M. Horwitz, EdD; Lecturer, Yale Child Study Center, Department of Psychology &
Education Studies; Program Director Emerita, Calvin Hill Day Care Center
Richard House, PhD; Chartered Psychologist; former senior university lecturer in Early
Childhood; founder of Early Childhood Action; editor of Too Much, Too Soon? and
Childhood, Well-being and a Therapeutic Ethos
Dr. Pam Hurst-Della Pietra; Founder and President, Children AND Screens: Institute of Digital
Media and Child Development; Clinical Assistant Professor, Health Care Policy and
Management, School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook Medicine
Dr. Sut Jhally, Professor of Communication, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Executive
Director, Media Education Foundation
Denisha Jones, PhD; Assistant Professor, Trinity Washington University
Allen D. Kanner, PhD; Editor, Psychology and Consumer Culture
Tim Kasser, PhD; Professor and Chair of Psychology, Knox College, Galesburg, IL; author of
The High Price of Materialism and Hypercapitalism; Member, Board of Directors,
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Jean Kilbourne, EdD; Wellesley Centers for Women, co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New
Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
Debbie Kruenegel-Farr, PhD; Professor of Psychology, New England College; owner of
Flourishing Families; parent consultant, coach, and educator
Dr. Dale Kunkel, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona
Velma LaPoint, PhD; Professor, Child Development, Department of Human Development and
Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education, Howard University
Dafna Lemish, PhD; Associate Dean, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers
University; founding editor, Journal of Children and Media; author of Children and
Media: A Global Perspective
Diane Levin, PhD; Professor of Education, Wheelock College; co-founder, Teachers
Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment (TRUCE) and Defending the Early Years;
author of Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood
Susan Linn, EDD; author of The Case for Make Believe: Saving play in a commercialized world;
Founder, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Dr. Robert MacDougall, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Curry College

 Roxana Marachi, PhD; Associate Professor of Education, San José State University; Education
Chair, San José Silicon Valley NAACP; EduResearcher
Kathleen S. Masarie, MD; Pediatrician; Founder, Family Empowerment Network; co-author of
Face to Face: Cultivating Kids’ Social Lives in Today's Digital World
Sharon Maxwell, PhD; author of The Talk: A Breakthrough Guide to Raising Healthy Kids in an
Oversexualized, Online, In-your-face World
Patrice Maynard, MEd; Director of Publications and Development, Research Institute for
Waldorf Education/Waldorf Publications
Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, Co-Director, Defending the Early Years
Jim Metrock, President, Obligation, Inc.
Alan Meyers, MD,MPH; Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of
Medicine.
Matt Miles, author of Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse
Is Making Our Kids Dumber
Nell Minow, The Movie Mom
Joel M. Moskowitz, PhD; Director, Center for Family and Community Health, School of Public
Health, University of California, Berkeley; editor of Electromagnetic Radiation Safety;
advisor to the International EMF Scientist Appeal and Physicians for Safe Technology
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MSLIS, MD; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin
School of Medicine and Public Health; Board Member, Campaign for a Commercial-Free
Childhood
Meghan Owenz, PhD; Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State University, Berks; author of
Screen-Free Parenting
Sue Palmer, literacy specialist and author of Toxic Childhood
Rae Pica, author of What If Everybody Understood Child Development?
Alvin F. Poussaint, MD; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Jenny Radesky, MD; Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician and Media Researcher, University
of Michigan
Kimberly Rathmann, MD; St. Paul, MN

 Robert Root, MD; Medical Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, California Pacific
Medical Center; Member, International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
and Allied Professionals
Mary Rothschild, Director, Healthy Media Choices; author of From Day One: A Loving Lifeline
For Your Super Busy Family in the Digital Age
Cris Rowan, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT; CEO of Sunshine Coast Occupational Therapy Inc. and
Zone’in Programs Inc.
Jean Rystrom, Founding Member, Screen Time Awareness and Reduction Coalition; retired,
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
Barbara Schecter, PhD; Director, Graduate program in Child Development, Sarah Lawrence
College
Candice Scott, BA, Elementary Education; MS, Counseling; The Research Institute, 21st CCLC
Project Director
Brooke Shannon, founder of Wait Until 8th
Nikki Shearman, PhD; Chief of Network Strategy and Evaluation, Reach Out & Read
Joni Siani, MEd; author and filmmaker, No App for Life
William Softky, PhD, Co-author of Sensory Metrics of Neuromechanical Trust
Rachael Stickland, Co-chair, Parent Coalition for Student Privacy
Vic Strasburger, MD; Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus, Unit of New Mexico
School of Medicine
Jim Taylor, PhD; author of Raising Generation Tech: Preparing Your Children for a
Mediafueled World
Marika Tiggemann, PhD; Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor in Psychology, Flinders
University, Australia; researcher
Sherry Turkle, PhD, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and
Technology, MIT
Jean M. Twenge; author of iGen; Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University

 Michael N. Valan, MD, F.A.P.M.; Medical Director, Recruitment, Sutter West Bay Medical
Group
Angelica Velazquez, parent; Director of the Informal Family Child Care Project, City University
of New York; Member, Board of Directors, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Laurel Parker West, PhD; GOOD+ Foundation; Member, Board of Directors, Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood
Tim Winter, President, Parents Television Council