Sleep Mode? Tech Giants' Kids' 'Fixes' Amount To Baby Steps

Facebook is adding a “sleep” mode to its Messenger Kids service to let parents limit when their kids can use it.

It’s the latest concession that tech companies are making as critics question whether they should be targeting kids at all. Among their chief concerns: The effects on kids are not yet known, and companies might not have children’s best interests at heart when tech for kids is such a lucrative market.

Rather than kill the services completely, as some critics want, Facebook, Amazon and Google are mostly tinkering at the edges. That leaves open the underlying questions of whether their products truly serve a need for the youngest set and if they are good for them.

Here’s a look at the changes announced:

FACEBOOK’S MESSENGER KIDS

In December, Facebook created a kids-friendly version of its Messenger app. It has no ads and gives parents plenty of controls over whom their children can chat with. The thinking was that while the regular apps are designed for people 13 or over, younger kids were on it anyway. Facebook saw Messenger Kids as a way to give the younger set a safer option.

— The changes: Parents can now specify the times kids aren’t allowed on — either as a onetime restriction or something recurring, such as after 9 p.m. every school night. While the app is in sleep mode, kids will get a message when they open it telling them so, and they won’t be able to use it.