Facebook building a version of Instagram for children under 13.

Facebook is considering launching a version of its popular photo social media platform, Instagram, for children under the age of 13.

BuzzFeed News first reported Facebook announced in an internal company post that the company would begin building a version of Instagram for people under the age of 13 years to allow them to “safely” use Instagram for the first time. Currently the company does not allow people who are under this age to create an account on the platform.

A spokesperson for Facebook told the Guardian the company was exploring a parent-controlled version of Instagram, similar to the Messenger Kids app that is for kids between six and 12.

“Increasingly kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends. Right now there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products … that are suitable for kids, managed by parents,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more.”

In a blog post earlier this week, which did not mention the proposed new Instagram service, the company noted that although people were asked to enter their age when signing up for Instagram, there was nothing to prevent people from lying about it at registration.

Facebook said it would overcome that by using machine learning in combination with the registration age to determine people’s ages on the platform.

The company also announced plans to roll out new safety features, including preventing adults from messaging people under the age of 18 who do not follow them, safety notices for teens when messaged by an adult sending a large amount of friend requests or messages to people under 18, and make it more difficult for adults to find and follow teens using the search function in Instagram.

Teens will also be encouraged to put their profiles on private at the point of registration.

A study of Australian teens’ internet usage published by the Australian eSafety commissioner in February found 57% of Australian teenagers use Instagram, while 30% reported being contacted by a stranger, and 20% reported being sent inappropriate unwanted content on the social media sites they used.

US President Joe Biden set to hit his goal of 100 million COVID-19 vacine shots in his first 100 days over a month earlier than schedule.

Biden is set to hit the goal of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days as early as Thursday.
The president set this goal before he was inaugurated.
By last week, the US was administering 2.4 million COVID-19 vaccines per day.

President Joe Biden is poised to hit a top goal he set for his first 100 days in the White House – 100 million vaccine shots in the arms of Americans – as early as Thursday, NBC News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett reported.

Before he was inaugurated, Biden underscored the importance of ramping up the pace of vaccination in the US. In early December, he unveiled a three-part plan to crush COVID-19 in his first 100 days – including complete 100 million vaccine shots.

Biden’s 100th day in office will be April 30, which means he’s set to hit this goal over a month ahead of schedule.

When asked if Biden would mark this milestone with any public remarks, a White House official told Insider the president “will discuss our progress toward our 100 million shots in 100 days goal.” Biden is expected to make a statement on reaching this goal on Thursday, the official said.

The president on Monday said that he expected to hit the goal of 100 million vaccinations in the next 10 days.

“It’s here, sooner than many ever thought possible,” Biden said in comments at the White House. “Over the next 10 days, we will reach two giant goals: One hundred million shots in people’s arms and 100 million checks in people’s pockets.”

As of Thursday, there have been over 113 million COVID-19 vaccines administered in the US, per data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Vaccination began when former President Donald Trump was still in office, but the rollout was messy and the US got off to a sluggish start.

In late January, Biden said he believed the US could get up to a rate of 1.5 million vaccinations per day and complete 150 million vaccinations in his first 100 days.

Last week, vaccinations in the US hit a record rate of 2.4 million per day, alongside a 22% decline in deaths from COVID-19.

But as the US begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic, experts are warning against easing up on precautions too early.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, in an appearance on “TODAY” on Thursday said, “There are some states now that are pulling back a bit more prematurely than they should on the public health measures.”

“It’s a race between the vaccine and the virus,” Fauci added.

As of Thursday, there have been nearly 30 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US, and over 538,000 reported deaths, per data from Johns Hopkins.

Ocado Q1 revenues soar 40% amid latest Covid lockdown.

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(Sharecast News) – Online supermarket Ocado Retail said it expects positive revenue growth in the second quarter after reporting a 40% rise in sales for the 13 weeks to the February 28 as more Britons had their groceries delivered during the current national Covid lockdown.

Revenue over the period, which included the Christmas holidays, came in at £599m against £428.8m a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Average orders per week rose 2.5% to 329,000.

Melanie Smith, chief executive of Ocado Retail said the second quarter of 2021 represented the one year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic which accelerated the demand for online groceries.

“While this year’s quarterly sales figures will reflect the year-on-year comparisons with periods of full lockdown, we expect strong growth over the coming years as we continue to lead the charge in changing the UK grocery landscape, for good,” she said.

The average order cost £147 as shoppers spent more on home deliveries as stricter coronavirus restrictions were suddenly announced in England, forcing many people to alter their Christmas plans at short notice and during the national lockdown that followed quickly in January.

Group chief executive Tim Steiner repeated his belief that the pandemic had permanently changed shopping habits. “Millions of customers have experienced online grocery shopping through the pandemic and many of them will not be going back to bricks and mortar,” he said.

Ocado Retail, a joint venture between Ocado Group and Marks & Spencer, said it planned to open opening two standard sized customer fulfilment centres (CFC) in fiscal 2021, having opened a mini warehouse in Bristol as it mapped out plans for expansion of CFC sites.

A minimum of 12 new micro sites are being sought, mainly in London, to support the roll-out of the “Ocado Zoom immediacy concept” which offers deliveries within one hour of ordering, it added.

“A second mini CFC will open in 2022 and progress is being made securing sites for further standard sized CFCs,” Ocado said.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said future comparisons against last year when people were stockpiling “will be a lot tougher”.

“As such, retail revenue and profits are expected to grow at a slower rate. That’s to be expected, but Ocado’s banking on the pandemic having triggered a long-term increase in demand for online groceries. With capacity being ramped up, it’s important there’s enough demand to match.”

“Ocado and M&S’ higher-end proposition sets it apart from other online supermarket offerings, and having a unique selling point in the uber competitive grocery market should hold the group in good stead. Let’s not forget this is important for M&S too – which is in the middle of trying to rejuvenate growth.”

Lund-Yates added that Ocado’s share price valuation “is still some way above the ten-year average” and supporting the share will depend more on brokering new partnerships in its warehouse solutions business and less on the retail business, “which is more of a nice-to-have than a strategic lynch pin”.