Facebook Investigation Shows The Company Knew Of Instagram’s Harm To Teens, US Senators Say.
The Instagram Kids app, which plans to launch soon, was discontinued following criticism.
On Thursday, US senators questioned Facebook about its plans to better protect young users on its apps, based on a leaked internal investigation that showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app was damaging health. adolescent mental.
The hearing in front of the Senate consumer protection subcommittee was convened after the Wall Street Journal published several stories earlier this month about how Facebook knew that Instagram caused particular teenagers to feel bad about their own image. After growing opposition to the project, Facebook put plans for Instagram Kids, targeting tweens, on hold this week.
Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global chief security officer, questioned the committee and WSJ’s findings from the investigative papers throughout the hearing, and said the company was working to publish additional internal studies in an effort to be more transparent about your findings.
“This investigation is a bomb,” said Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal during the hearing. “It is powerful, exciting and fascinating evidence that Facebook knows the harmful effects of its site on children and has hidden those facts and findings.”
“IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for Insta-greed,” said Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
Senators lobbied Davis on several important issues, including the identifiable data Facebook collects on users under the age of 13, the extent to which the company views young users as an area of growth, and to confirm whether he knew that Instagram carried some children to consider suicide.
Davis reiterated that children under the age of 13 were not allowed on Facebook, adding that 0.5 percent of teens in the company’s research connected their “suicidal ideation” to Instagram, lower numbers than those reported by the Journal.
“You have chosen some of the research that you think helps you right now,” said Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and demanded that Facebook commit to publishing its full investigation into the links between Instagram and youth suicide.
A second hearing is scheduled for Tuesday and will feature a whistleblower from Facebook. The whistleblower is expected to reveal his identity on Sunday in a recorded interview for the television news program “60 Minutes,” which in a preview described the woman as a former Facebook employee who left with tens of thousands of pages. research.
Davis said Thursday that Facebook would not retaliate against the whistleblower for sharing confidential documents with senators.
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