Facebook Knew Of Instagram Harm To Teens

US senators on Thursday grilled Facebook Inc. on its plans to better protect young users on its apps, drawing on leaked internal research that showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teens, Sheila Dang and Paresh Dave reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Facebook was grilled by US senators in relation to leaked internal research that showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teens.

The hearing in front of the Senate consumer protection subcommittee was called after the Wall Street Journal published several stories earlier this month about how Facebook knew Instagram caused some teen girls, in particular, to feel bad about their self-image. After growing opposition to the project, Facebook put plans for Instagram Kids, aimed at pre-teens, on hold this week. read more

Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, disputed the committee and WSJ's conclusions of the research documents throughout the hearing and said the company was working to release additional internal studies in an effort to be more transparent about its findings. read more

"This research is a bombshell," said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, during the hearing. "It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings."

Added Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Markey: "IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for Insta-greed."

The senators pressed Davis on several major themes, including what identifiable data Facebook collects on users under the age of 13, to what extent the company views young users as a growth area, and to confirm whether it knew that Instagram led some children to consider suicide.

Davis reiterated that kids under 13 were not allowed on Facebook, adding 0.5% of teens in the company's research connected their "suicidal ideation" to Instagram, lower than the figures the Journal had reported.

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