US Senators Pushing For Thorough Investigation Into Instagram's Negative Impact On Teens

US Senators Pushing For Thorough Investigation Into Instagram's Negative Impact on Teens

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2021) US Senators Richard Blumenthal (Democrat, Connecticut) and Marsha Blackburn (Republican, Tennessee) are launching a probe into the potential harmful effects that Facebook and Instagram likely have on young users.

"When given the opportunity to come clean to us about their knowledge of Instagram's impact on young users, Facebook provided evasive answers that were misleading and covered up clear evidence of significant harm. We are in touch with a Facebook whistleblower and will use every resource at our disposal to investigate what Facebook knew and when they knew it - including seeking further documents and pursuing witness testimony," the senators said in a joint statement published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The senators emphasized that research done by The Wall Street Journal reveals that Facebook is focused on a "growth-at-all-costs" mindset and disregards the health and lives of children and teenagers.

The US Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security will be taking additional steps to look into Facebook's knowledge of its platforms' negative impact, Blumenthal and Blackburn, who is the subcommittee's chair and ranking member, said.

In August, the Senators wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling on the tech giant to release its internal research on the potentially harmful impact of its platforms, but the company did not share its internal studies. Facebook has been conducting the studies over the past three years, and, according to The Wall Street Journal, the company's researchers found that Instagram is harmful for a sizable percentage of young users, especially teenage girls.

The newspaper quoted a 2019 research conclusion as saying that the platforms "make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls" and cause increased anxiety and depression.

According to The Wall Street Journal, more than 40 percent of Instagram users are 22 years old and younger. Zuckerberg has said that his company plans to create a new Instagram product for children under the age of 13.