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Bowing 鈥� perhaps only for a moment 鈥� to pressure from lawmakers, critics, the media, and child development experts, Facebook said Monday it will 鈥減ause鈥� its work on a kids鈥� version of its photo and video-oriented Instagram app.

But what鈥檚 not yet clear is just how seriously Facebook is taking the concerns of experts and parents. Its decision to merely pause the project suggests it still plans to expose a much younger audience to Instagram, its well-documented harms, and possibly the user profiling that feeds Facebook鈥檚 targeted ad machine. That ad machine, of course, has made the company one of the most profitable on the planet.

Why is Facebook doing this now?

The company鈥檚 move follows an explosive mid-September report by The Wall Street Journal that found Facebook knew from its own research that Instagram was harming some teems, especially girls, leading to mental health and body image problems and in some cases eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.

In public, however, Facebook has consistently played down the app鈥檚 negative side and until now has barreled ahead with the kids鈥� version despite alarms from experts, lawmakers, and its own research. It has also relentlessly criticized the Journal article as cherry-picking from Facebook鈥檚 research, though it did not dispute the facts. That story, however, was based on internal research leaked by a whistleblower at the company.

It鈥檚 likely not a coincidence that on Thursday, a panel of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing examining the 鈥渢oxic effects鈥� of Facebook and Instagram on young people. It鈥檚 the latest of several hearings to look at whether Big Tech companies are hiding what they know about the harms their products cause.

So is Insta for kids cancelled?

Facebook has very specifically not said that it will abandon the project. Instead, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a blog post Monday that the company will use its pause time 鈥渢o work with parents, experts, and policymakers to demonstrate the value and need for this product.鈥�

Translation: Expect Facebook to sharpen its message on the 鈥渂enefits鈥� of Instagram for Kids in hopes that the furor will die down.

Consider that Facebook had already said it was working with parents, experts, and policymakers back in July when it introduced safety measures for teens on its main Instagram platform. In fact, the company has been 鈥渨orking with鈥� experts and other advisors for another product aimed at children 鈥� its Messenger Kids app that launched in late 2017.

鈥淐ritics of Instagram Kids鈥� will see this as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea,鈥� Mr. Mosseri wrote. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case.鈥�

Who are the experts working with Facebook?

Four years ago, Facebook said it gathered a group of experts in the fields of online safety, child development, and children鈥檚 media to 鈥渟hare their expertise, research, and guidance.鈥� The group it calls Youth Advisors include some well-known and some lesser-known nonprofit groups, including the Family Online Safety Institute, Digital Wellness Lab, MediaSmarts, Project Rockit, and the Cyberbullying Research Center.

All of these groups receive some form of funding from Facebook, according to their websites. Meanwhile, some of the best-known children鈥檚 online advocacy groups 鈥� and Facebook鈥檚 biggest critics on this matter 鈥� such as Common Sense Media and Fairplay (formerly known as the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood) are notably absent.

Critics acknowledge that many of the cooperative experts mean well, but say their influence has been negligible. 鈥淔acebook has shown time and time again that it is incapable of governing or advising itself with any integrity,鈥� said Kyle Taylor, program director for the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a group critical of the social network. 鈥淔acebook鈥檚 funding of research and civil society is hugely problematic, and prevents the kind of direct, open process that is required for any real change to occur.鈥�

When Facebook seeks feedback for its projects, Mr. Taylor added, 鈥渢he decks are always stacked with experts who have a financial interest or who will never criticize Facebook鈥檚 core issues 鈥� their algorithm and their profit margin.鈥�

Could Facebook still pull the plug?

Fairplay executive director Josh Golin argues that Instagram for Kids may have already sunk beneath the waves. The 鈥減ause,鈥濃�� he said, is a good way for Facebook to save face and hope that after a while people will forget about it.

He acknowledges that his group and other advocates failed to pressure Facebook into canceling its kids鈥� messaging product, but says Instagram for Kids is different.

鈥淚nstagram is a much much worse platform for children鈥� than Messenger, he said, noting Facebook鈥檚 own internal research and a 鈥渨ealth of evidence鈥� supporting this point. The climate has also changed since 2017 and 2018, when the 鈥渢echlash鈥� against Big Tech鈥檚 harmful effects on society was just emerging. Now, it鈥檚 in full force and much more organized. Finally, there鈥檚 tech product inertia.

鈥淲ith Messenger Kids, the backlash didn鈥檛 start until it had already came out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is much easier for a corporation to walk back a product that doesn鈥檛 yet exist than to take a product off the market,鈥�

What About other platforms?

Facebook, of course, is not the only tech platform whose products have caused ripples of concern about the well-being of children. And creating kids鈥� versions in the face of these concerns is a popular response. After getting in trouble with U.S. regulators for violating children鈥檚 privacy rules, for instance, TikTok created a 鈥渓imited, separate app experience鈥� for users who are under 13. They can鈥檛 share videos, comment on other people鈥檚 videos, or message people. But as with any other app, if kids enter a fake birthdate when they register with the app, they can get around that provision.

YouTube has a kids version, too. Lawmakers earlier this year called it a 鈥渨asteland of vapid consumerist content鈥� and launched an investigation that鈥檚 still ongoing.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP Technology Writer Tali Arbel contributed to this story.