Instagram head Adam Mosseri appears before US Senate over platform's affect on young users

The head of Instagram appeared before the United States lawmakers on Wednesday. Adam Mosseri, the chief of the photosharing site testified before Senate as the lawmakers have expressed anger over the impact of social media platform on young users, according to AP. The lawmakers have called upon the company to make necessary changes to protect young users from harmful content on the Facebook-owned service.

The head of Instagram on Wednesday faced questions on Capitol Hill and over new measures the social media platform has implemented in order to protect young users. Adam Mosseri appeared before a Senate panel and faced lawmakers over the revelations as to how Instagram can impact young users. Senators have also called upon the company to make changes and increase transparency.  

Mosseri defended the company’s conduct

Facing questions from both the parties, Mosseri defended the company’s conduct and explained the safety measures implemented by the company. He challenged the claims that Instagram was addictive for young users and mentioned that Instagram along with Facebook is part of Meta Platforms and has an estimated 1 billion users of all ages. He testified before the US lawmakers in the Senate hearing called after the revelations made by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen.

Haugen has presented a case before US lawmakers in the US, UK and Europe. Haugen, who worked as a data scientist in Facebook's civic integrity unit, has revealed how Facebook's system leads to online hate and extremism. She further claimed that the company makes a profit over the safety of its users. Haugen tried to prove her claims to the US Congress using the internal documents of the company which she had secretly copied. 

Instagram introduced a previously announced feature

Ahead of testifying before the US Senate, Instagram on Tuesday, introduced a previously announced feature. In the new feature introduced by the photo-sharing site, the company has called upon young users to take a break from the social media platform. Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a blog post informed that “Take A Break" feature motivates young users to stop scrolling if they have been on the social media platform for a while, according to AP.  In a move aimed to protect young users from harmful content on Instagram, the company also revealed other tools that have been introduced to protect teenagers.  

(Inputs from AP)

(Image: Instagram/@Mosseri)