That has led to calls by lawmakers and regulators for more regulation of the social network. After the renewed wave of criticism, Facebook said on Monday that it had paused development of an Instagram Kids service, which would be tailored for children 13 or younger.
Facebook said it provided the internal research reports to Congress on Wednesday. On Thursday, Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, will testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing on mental health and social media. Next week, a Facebook whistle-blower, who has not been publicly identified, will also testify to lawmakers about Facebook’s and Instagram’s effects on young users.
In opening remarks for Thursday’s hearing, which were released late Wednesday, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee argued that Facebook, despite knowing the mental health risks, “was scheming to bring even younger users into their fold.”
“Facebook knows that its services are actively harming their young users,” Ms. Blackburn, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, said in the prepared remarks. “In 2019 and 2020, Facebook’s in-house analysts performed a series of deep dives into teen use of Instagram that revealed ‘aspects of Instagram exacerbate each other to create a perfect storm.’”
Facebook has aggressively tried to reshape its image this year, including using its News Feed to promote some pro-Facebook stories; distancing Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, from scandals; and reducing outsiders’ access to internal data. The company has also decided to apologize less, people with knowledge of the shift have said.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/technology/facebook-instagram-research-hearing.html
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