Markey, Blumenthal Hammer Facebook Over Messenger Kids Design Flaw

Facebook failed to meet its promise to restrict its Messenger Kids app to users 12 and younger, Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote Tuesday. They said the company claimed the app “only allows children to interact with users who have been approved by their parents,” but it recently “confirmed that a design flaw allowed children to circumvent those protections and chat with unapproved strangers.” They asked for specifics of the flaw’s discovery, and whether its recent FTC settlement releases it from liability under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The company confirmed it received the letter.