Health experts urge Facebook to turn off Messenger for kids as young as six

Facebook's new app for young children opens greater concerns

At the age of six, a child is full of imagination and may not distinguish reality from fantasy. She is beginning to read and can’t grasp nuances in written communication. She also doesn’t understand privacy.

Citing those reasons and more, dozens of health experts are calling on Facebook to kill a messaging service the company introduced last month for children as young as six.

In a letter to the company, they said the service, Messenger Kids, which pushes the company’s user base well below its previous minimum age of 13, preys on a vulnerable group developmentally unprepared to be on the social