Photo Credit: CCO
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Just days before the U.S. Senate is set to hold a hearing entitled “Protecting Kids Online: Facebook, Instagram, and Mental Health Harms,” Facebook has made the decision to pause Instagram Kids for now.
Senator Marsha Blackburn said, “Facebook’s decision to pause ‘Instagram Kids’ is a step in the right direction to ensuring a safe environment, but there is still much work to be done. Big Tech’s pattern of choosing profit over the wellbeing of young users is extremely concerning, and we must hold them accountable.”
In a blog post published yesterday, September 27th, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram stated that “While we stand by the need to develop this experience, we’ve decided to pause this project. This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today.”
Last week, U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, announced the hearing will take place on Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 10:30 AM EDT.
Facebook has confirmed that the company’s Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, will testify at the hearing.
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“Mark Zuckerberg’s guiding principle for Facebook is profit,” said Blackburn. “The platform was fully aware that Facebook had serious and harmful issues. Young girls’ risk of suicide increased, human trafficking thrived on the site, and cartels gloated about their killings. I look forward to Facebook answering these very serious allegations before the Consumer Protection Subcommittee. I appreciate Senator Blumenthal’s leadership and bipartisan approach on this matter, and look forward to continuing to work closely with him.”
“This hearing will examine the toxic effects of Facebook and Instagram on young people and others, and is one of several that will ask tough questions about whether Big Tech companies are knowingly harming people and concealing that knowledge,” said Blumenthal. “Revelations about Facebook and others have raised profound questions about what can and should be done to protect people. Other social media companies have committed to appear at other hearings soon to be scheduled.”
The hearing comes after reporting in the Wall Street Journal on Facebook’s knowledge of its platforms’ negative impact on teenagers and young users.
In August, Blackburn and Blumenthal wrote Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling on the tech giant to release its internal research on the potentially harmful impact of its platforms – including Instagram Kids – on youth mental health and explain how this research has been used to further promote and market their products to young users.
In May, Blackburn and Blumenthal held a hearing on protecting kids online. With children’s screen time surging on popular apps like Facebook Messenger and Instagram, kids are being exposed to safety and privacy issues including data collection, aggressive marketing, and sexual exploitation.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
