Senators grilled a Facebook executive on Capitol Hill Thursday over accusations it has known for years that Instagram causes mental and emotional harm to teenagers.
Members of the Senate’s consumer protection subcommittee summoned Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, as scrutiny intensified following a report in The Wall Street Journal citing the company’s internal research that 1 in 3 teenagers said Instagram made their body image issues worse.
The revelations prompted some lawmakers to renewed a call for tougher laws to protect children online. Richard Bluementhal, Chairman of the subcommitteesaid that it is powerful, gripping riveting evidence that Facebook knows the harmful effects of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings. Facebook released the research to the public on the eve of the Senate hearing.
Antigone Davis, Facebook’s Global Head of Safety told lawmakers that Facebook put in multiple protections to create safe and age-appropriate experiences for people between the ages of 13 and 17. Moreover, Facebook has removed more than 600,000 accounts on Instagram from June to August this year that didn’t meet the minimum age requirement of 13. That’s why they conduct this research, to make their platform better, to minimize the bad, and maximize the good, and to proactively identify where they can improve.
Amid public outcry over the research’s findings, Facebook has put on hold its kids’ version of Instagram which was mostly geared to children aged 10 to 12.
Senators grilled a Facebook executive on Capitol Hill Thursday over accusations it has known for years that Instagram causes mental and emotional harm to teenagers.
Members of the Senate’s consumer protection subcommittee summoned Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, as scrutiny intensified following a report in The Wall Street Journal citing the company’s internal research that 1 in 3 teenagers said Instagram made their body image issues worse.
The revelations prompted some lawmakers to renewed a call for tougher laws to protect children online. Richard Bluementhal, Chairman of the subcommitteesaid that it is powerful, gripping riveting evidence that Facebook knows the harmful effects of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings. Facebook released the research to the public on the eve of the Senate hearing.
Antigone Davis, Facebook’s Global Head of Safety told lawmakers that Facebook put in multiple protections to create safe and age-appropriate experiences for people between the ages of 13 and 17. Moreover, Facebook has removed more than 600,000 accounts on Instagram from June to August this year that didn’t meet the minimum age requirement of 13. That’s why they conduct this research, to make their platform better, to minimize the bad, and maximize the good, and to proactively identify where they can improve.
Amid public outcry over the research’s findings, Facebook has put on hold its kids’ version of Instagram which was mostly geared to children aged 10 to 12.
