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Updated October 2nd, 2021 at 20:28 IST

US: Senate compares Facebook to 'cigarette industry' for hiding Instagram's risk to teens

On September 30, Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, was grilled by the US Senate during a hearing on the company's products' effects on teens.

Reported by: Aparna Shandilya
US
Image: AP/Unsplash | Image:self
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On September 30, Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, was grilled by the US Senate during a hearing on the company's products and its effects on teens.

Following a series of Wall Street Journal exposes based on internal Facebook leaks, including one that showed studies revealing the negative impacts of Instagram on childhood mental health, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee held a hearing on September 30.

Senators were harsh in their criticism of Facebook, focusing on the research and highlighting the company's attempts to conceal it in the run-up to the hearing.

“Facebook is well aware of the negative effects that Instagram's design and algorithms are having on our society's youth, but it has consistently prioritised its own rapid growth over fundamental child safety. This research is a bombshell. It is powerful, dramatic, riveting proof that Facebook knows of the detrimental impacts of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings," in his opening comments, Richard Blumenthal, the leader of the subcommittee, stated, The Guardian reported.

Blumenthal said that his office performed its own Instagram research, acting like a 13-year-old girl and following accounts related to eating disorders to see what Instagram might recommend. It concluded that the platform led the account further down the rabbit hole of potentially dangerous content.

Several senators linked Facebook to the cigarette industry. Facebook. According to Blumenthal, Facebook has 'adopted big tobacco's playbook.'

Davis has been repeatedly questioned on what data the organisation collects on young users and whether the company sees them as a growth area. She emphasised that children under the age of 13 are not permitted to use Facebook, and said that the number of teens who linked 'suicidal ideation' to Instagram in the study was lower than the statistics cited by the Journal.

Background

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story, the research that spurred the hearing was commissioned by Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook, and revealed that the photo app could damage girls' mental health on problems such as body image and self-esteem.

Last week, Facebook's head of research offered a reply to the WSJ findings, claiming that the research indicating that Instagram was dangerous for young girls was "simply not accurate." However, Instagram Kids, a programme it had been developing for users under the age of 13, was put on hold.

Facebook published two slide decks of research just hours before the hearing, claiming that it was the “primary focus” of the WSJ's “mischaracterisation” of its work. The Wall Street Journal retaliated by posting the entire set of slides, which gave a gloomy picture of how much Facebook knew about Instagram's impact on teenagers.

The hearing on September 30 demonstrated that Instagram and mental health revelations have had an impact on Facebook. Although Davis stated that Instagram will continue to talk to parents and policymakers about a kid's usage of the application, the hearing indicated that any new Facebook product released for the under-13 market will be met with a bombardment of political resistance.

Image: AP/Unsplash

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Published October 2nd, 2021 at 20:28 IST

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