Facebook Messenger Kids app flaw allow strangers to join chats

Messenger Kids was launched in 2017. It was pegged as a safe space for children who were under 13 years and too young for the "grown-up" version of the social network.

The app allows children to chat with friends who were approved by a parent.

The Verge reported that a design flaw made it possible for unauthorised users (adults) to be part of group chats.

Facebook said in a statement on Monday, "We recently notified some parents of Messenger Kids account users about a technical error that we detected affecting a small number of group chats. We turned off the affected chats and provided parents with additional resources on Messenger Kids and online safety."

Children on Messenger Kids can only talk to each other when a parent approves the friendship. Though, in a group chat, a child could come into contact with a third person who, while approved by one child's parent, was not authorised by the other. It looks like there is a flaw in the permissions which are needed for group chats.

It gets complicated when multiple users are involved in the permissions to initiate a chat. So if a child was authorised to chat with one user and that user creates a group in which the child is added, the child can chat with users in the group who was not authorised by the parents.

As of now, it is not clear if this bug was there on the app since its launch in 2017. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies to Messenger Kids app since it for the kids under 13 years. Earlier also the app has been accused by some privacy group for violating COPPA. And this new revelation is only going to add more fuel to the fire as per The Verge.