[ad_1]
Opposition to Facebook’s plans gained momentum this month when The Journal published articles based on leaked internal documents showing that it knew of the many harms caused by Facebook. Facebook’s internal research has shown that Instagram, in particular, is making teen girls feel worse about their bodies, leading to increased rates of anxiety and depression, even as company executives try to publicly minimize the downsides of the practice.
On Thursday, Facebook’s head of global security, Antigone Davis, is scheduled to testify at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing titled “Protecting Children Online: Facebook, Instagram, and the Mental Health Harms.”
Lawmakers, including Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and the chair of the subcommittee that held Thursday’s hearing, said pausing Instagram Kids wasn’t enough. In a statement, he and others said that Facebook “has completely lost the advantage of doubt in protecting young people online and should completely abandon this project.”
Deputies added that stronger regulation is needed. “Facebook has repeatedly demonstrated the failures of self-regulation, and we know Congress needs to step in,” they said.
Al Mik, spokesperson for the 5Rights Foundation, a group in London focused on digital rights issues for children, said a child-directed version of Instagram would not solve any more systemic issues. The group released a report In July, it showed 13-year-olds being targeted with harmful content within 24 hours of creating an account, including material about eating disorders, extreme diets, sexualized imagery, body shaming, self-harm and suicide.
“At some point, we have to ask if Facebook is too big to oversee its own products and services,” Mik said. “Because they are not fit to trust our children unless they deliver the service they promise – until then neither Instagram nor Instagram for kids should be seen as a good idea.”
[ad_2]
Source link