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- US senators grilled a Facebook executive on Thursday, citing leaked internal research that showed its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teens
- The Senate hearing was called after The Wall Street Journal published several stories about Facebook’s knowledge of the harm
- Facebook disputed the conclusions and said it was working to release additional internal studies in the name of greater transparency
- A second hearing is planned for Tuesday and will feature a Facebook whistleblower and former employee
United States senators grilled Facebook on Thursday over its plans to protect young users on its apps, citing leaked internal research that showed the social media giant knew 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 Facebook’s knowledge of how the photo-based app caused teenaged girls in particular to feel negatively about their self-image.
Facing increasing opposition, the company suspended its plans to roll out Instagram Kids — which would target pre-teens — earlier this week.
Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, disputed the conclusions drawn by both the committee and The Wall Street Journal, and said the company was working to release additional internal studies in an effort to be more transparent about its findings.
“This research is a bombshell,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said 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.”
The senators pressed Ms Davis on a number of key 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 had led some children to consider suicide.
However Ms Davis noted that children under 13 were not allowed to use Facebook, and said 0.5 per cent of teens in the company’s research connected their “suicidal ideation” to Instagram, lower than the figures reported by The Wall Street Journal.
“You’ve cherry-picked part of the research that you think helps your spin right now,” said Republican Senator Ted Cruz, demanding that Facebook commit to releasing its full research on the ties between Instagram and youth suicide.
A second hearing is planned for Tuesday and will feature a Facebook whistleblower.
The whistleblower is expected to reveal their identity on Sunday in a recorded interview for TV program 60 Minutes. A preview of the show described the woman as a former employee of Facebook who left with tens of thousands of pages of research.
Davis said on Thursday that the company would not retaliate against the woman for sharing confidential documents with the senators.
