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Facebook Grilled by Senators Over Its Effect on Children
The company faces accusations that it hid research showing the mental and emotional harm that Instagram, its photo-sharing app, has on teenagers.
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Lawmakers Blast Facebook Over Its Effect on Children
Senators from both sides of the aisle threw harsh questions at Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, admonishing her for withholding internal information about how its services hurt young people.
“We now know while Facebook publicly denies that Instagram is deeply harmful for teens, privately, Facebook researchers and experts have been ringing the alarm for years. We now know that Facebook routinely puts profits ahead of kids’ online safety. We know it chooses the growth of its products over the well-being of our children, and we now know that it is indefensibly delinquent in acting to protect them.” “The documents show survey results into the digital interests of 8- to-10-year-olds. So with this categorization in mind, does Facebook conduct market research on tweens, yes or no?” “That document is actually from an age-appropriate design code, something that Senator Markey and others have actually given to tech companies as a way for us to think about how we design for — for different — different ages. It is actually a direction on policy —” “So you are admitting to me that you’re designing for 8- to-12-year-olds. I think that that is something that is very interesting because, you know that’s a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Act. And I guess what you’re telling us then, is that you also are doing market research on children and that you are continuing to collect data on children.”
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers took sharp aim at Facebook on Thursday, harshly questioning one of its executives about Instagram’s effect on teenagers, in a Senate hearing that illuminated the growing bipartisan frustrations and concerns with the social media giant.
Members of the Senate’s consumer protection subcommittee admonished the executive, Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, for withholding internal information about how its services hurt young people and for not significantly changing those services to reduce those downsides. Senators accused the company of knowing for years that Instagram, its photo-sharing app, has caused mental and emotional harm.
“It has hidden its own research on addiction and the toxic effects of its products,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, the chairman of the subcommittee and a Democrat from Connecticut. “It has attempted to deceive the public and us in Congress about what it knows, and it has weaponized childhood vulnerabilities against children themselves. It’s chosen growth over children’s mental health and well-being, greed over preventing the suffering of children.”
Lawmakers called for regulations to rein in Facebook, saying repeated scandals involving safety, data privacy abuses and misinformation have created a trust deficit.
“You’ve lost trust, and we do not trust you with influencing our children,” said Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.
Ms. Davis, a seven-year Facebook veteran and former senior adviser to the Maryland attorney general, often reacted defensively. Lawmakers of both parties regularly cut her off midsentence to say she was not answering their questions.
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