Facebook insiders admit to hooking ‘incredibly young’ kids with THESE tricks

SENIOR Facebook execs have admitted building addictive features that could inflict harm to children.

Sandy Parakilas, a former Facebook platform manager, said the company's goal was to "addict" people at "an incredibly young age".

“They know what the negative effects are and they are not being honest,” he added.

Aza Raskin, the creator of the ­endless scroll designed to stop users from clicking away from the social network, said: ­“Behind every screen on your phone, there are literally a thousand engineers to try to make it maximally addicting".

“It’s as if they’re taking behavioural cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface,” he said.

And Leah Pearlman, the Facebook staffer who created the company's instantly recognisable "Like" button, spoke of how she ended up getting hooked on the site herself.

“I noticed that I would post something that I used to post, and the Like count would be way lower than it used to be. Suddenly I thought I’m actually also kind of addicted to the feedback,” she said.

The revelations are made in a BBC Panorama episode that airs tonight, in which the former execs expressed alarm over Messenger for Kids: a Facebook chat app designed for children aged six to 12.

“Considering the addictive nature of Facebook… it’s really concerning that they are now targeting even younger children without clear standards for what is OK and what is not OK,” warned Parakilas.

In response to the backlash, Facebook is now investigating whether "habit-forming" behaviour is "bringing harm" to users.

But it needn't look far for proof – an endless amount of studies on the damaging affects of social media have been published since the rise of Facebook.

MPs and charities have also long warned that these sites, including Facebook-owned Instagram, are having an adverse impact on childrens' mental health.

And a recent poll found that four in five people want social media firms to be regulated to ensure they do more to protect kids’ mental health.

Right now, only minors over the age over 13 are technically allowed on Facebook – although the company has no way of checking this.

Facebook currently lets youngsters aged between 13 and 15 (and potentially even younger) upload all manner of personal details.

But after the introduction of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation on May 25, it was forced to seek parental permission to hoover up certain data on children.

Affected features include "seeing ads based on data from partners, and including religious and political views or 'interested in' on your profile", according to Facebook.

The company said the allegations of designing technology to be addictive were incorrect: “Facebook and Instagram were designed to bring people closer to their friends, family and the things they care about, and that purpose sits at the centre of every design decision we make.

"At no stage does wanting something to be addictive factor into that process and we are continually working to make sure Facebook and Instagram contribute to people’s lives in a positive way.”

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