Currently, Facebook doesn’t allow anyone under the age of 13 to create an account on its Instagram platform.

That looks to be changing as Facebook says it is working on a version of its Instagram app for kids under 13, who are currently not allowed to use Instagram due to federal privacy rules.

Facebook had just announced changes designed to keep teenagers safe on Instagram, but there was no mention that they were working on Instagram for kids.

Instagram posted in its blog, “We require everyone to be at least 13 to use Instagram and have asked new users to provide their age when they sign up for an account for some time. While many people are honest about their age, we know that young people can lie about their date of birth. We want to do more to stop this from happening, but verifying people’s age online is complex and something many in our industry are grappling with. To address this challenge, we’re developing new artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to help us keep teens safer and apply new age-appropriate features.”

Facebook’s move isn’t making everyone smile as critics are saying this is just another example of Facebook growing its user base by introducing children to its social media products at an early age – so they can “lock them in” and leverage them later as they grow older.

“Increasingly kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends,” Facebook said in a statement. “Right now there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products — like we did with Messenger Kids — that are suitable for kids, managed by parents.”

In 2017, Facebook launched the Messenger Kids app so children could chat with family members and friends who were approved by their parents. This did not mean they would have their own accounts, instead, the app is an extension of a parent’s account, and parents get controls, such as the ability to decide who their kids can chat with.

The announcement sets up the framework for how Facebook plans to expand its user base.