US Senator Slams Facebook Inc For Not Being Transparent In Its Report On Instagram's Impact On Teens

Instagram is covering up reports of the app's impact on teens. (photo; socialbakers)

JAKARTA - US senators on Thursday, September 30 criticized Facebook Inc for its plans to better protect young or teen users on its app. Based on leaked internal research, it shows that the social media giant is aware of how its Instagram app is harming teens' mental health.

The hearing before the Senate consumer protection subcommittee comes after the Wall Street Journal published several stories earlier this month about how Facebook knew Instagram had caused some teenage girls to feel bad about their self-image. After growing opposition to the project, Facebook postponed plans for Instagram Kids, which is aimed at pre-teens, this week.

Antigone Davis, Facebook's head of global security, disputed the committee's and WSJ's conclusions from research documents during the trial. They said the company was working to release additional internal studies in a bid to be more transparent about its findings.

"This research is a bomb," Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic US Senator, said during the trial. "This is compelling, gripping, and compelling evidence that Facebook is aware of the harmful effects of its site on children, and that Facebook has hidden these facts and findings."

"IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for Insta-greed," said Senator Edward Markey, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts.

The senators pressed Davis on several key themes, including the identifiable data Facebook collects on users under the age of 13. They put pressure on the extent to which the company views young users as an area of growth and to confirm whether they know that Instagram is making some children consider suicide.

Davis insists that children under 13 are not allowed to use Facebook. He added that 0.5% of teens in the company's research had linked their "suicide ideation" to Instagram, lower than the figure reported by the WSJ.

"You have selected the piece of research that you think helps your current round," said Senator Ted Cruz. The Republican senator from Texas demanded that Facebook commit to releasing a full study of the relationship between Instagram and suicide among teens.

A second hearing is planned for next Tuesday and will feature the Facebook whistleblower. The whistleblowers are expected to reveal their identities on Sunday, October 3 in a taped interview for the TV news program "60 Minutes," which in the preview describes the woman as a former Facebook employee who left with tens of thousands of research pages.

Davis said on Thursday, September 30 that Facebook would not retaliate against whistleblowers for sharing classified documents with senators.