AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
- Facebook is trialling an app for prisoners transitioning back into society, Bloomberg reported.
- "The Re-Entry App" appeared at the top of some users' Instagram feed so they could trial it.
- Facebook said it was finding "ways to help close gaps faced by those in marginalized communities."
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Facebook is testing an app for people who are being released from prison in an effort to build more platforms for marginalized communities, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
The new social media site, called The Re-Entry App, popped up at the top of various users' Instagram feeds on Wednesday, Bloomberg said. The notification read "preparing for life after prison with community support" and asked users to trial the app and give feedback.
Prisoners are banned from using any form of social media platform while in jail. They are allowed to email people outside of the prison.
"We've been exploring different ways to help close gaps faced by those in marginalized communities across our apps," a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement to Insider. "This was only intended to be an internal test and we took down the notice as soon as we learned it briefly ran externally."
In June, Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said he wanted the social media company to start "building products to advance racial justice."
Facebook-owned Instagram also has an equity team that creates "new features that respond to the needs of underserved communities," according to a September blog post by Adam Mosseri, head of the photo-sharing app.