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Facebook It paused an Instagram product for kids on Monday as it prepared for a confrontation with the tech giant Congress Instagram harms girls’ mental health and possibly contributes to suicidal thoughts.
joyful. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat and Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, targeted Facebookowned Instagram and intends to make a grid Facebook On Thursday, she’s admin at a hearing on the impact of image-sharing platforms on mental health, especially for teenage girls.
Facebook He tried to blunt his critics’ sharpest attacks by halting the development of “Instagram Kids” and confronting his critics online. Still under development, Instagram Kids is planned as a version of the popular social media platform that will target children under the age of 13. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said on Monday that the company is pausing its plans.
“We decided to pause this project while we were on the side of the need to improve the experience,” Mr Mosseri wrote on his Instagram blog. “This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policy makers and regulators, listen to their concerns and demonstrate online the value and importance of this project for young teenagers today.”
The announcement came in the midst of bad publicity pressure. Facebook It was encouraged by news reports of internal research that alleged Instagram was harming children’s mental health. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal accused Facebook Knowing that Instagram is “toxic to teenage girls,” according to internal research.
Internal documents included findings that 32% of teenage girls said Instagram made them have a worse body image. The company also found that among teens considering suicide in the survey, 13% of British teens and 6% of American teens link suicidal thoughts directly to Instagram.
After the newspaper article, Mr. Blumenthal and Mrs. black burn He scheduled a hearing to investigate the alleged problems faced by children using Instagram, and Facebook.
“The platform was fully aware of this Facebook It had serious and harmful problems,” he said. black burn in a statement last week. “Teen girls have an increased risk of suicide, increased trafficking in people on the site, and cartels brag about their murders.”
Ever since federal lawmakers got involved, Facebook began to respond with online expressions. Facebook Pratiti Raychoudhury, vice president of research at the company, published a blog post accusing critics of mischaracterizing the internal analysis of their products’ impact on children.
Ms Raychoudhury wrote: “It is absolutely not true that this research shows that Instagram is ‘toxic’ for young girls.” “The research actually showed that many of the young people we heard from felt that using Instagram helped them as they struggled with the tough times and issues that young people always face.”
He also tried to refute The Journal’s claims that: Facebook saying that he knowingly harmed children, he aimed to prevent harm in in-house research.
“Our internal research is part of our effort to minimize the bad and maximize the good on our platforms,” said Ms Raychoudhury. “We’re investing in this research to proactively identify where we can improve – so the internal slides highlight the worst possible outcomes.”
When critics responded on Twitter Facebook The company said that when it needs to make its research public, it’s working on it.
“We share these slide decks Congress “We’re evaluating how we can make this public before and at some point before this week’s hearing,” he said. Facebook His spokesperson, Andy Stone, is on Twitter.
Facebook‘s decision to make changes before Thursday’s hearing received lukewarm praise from fierce critics on Monday. For example, Ms. black burn He called the Instagram Kids pause move “a step in the right direction”, but he said the company should do more and Congress Big tech companies need to be held accountable.
Similarly, the National Center for Sexual Exploitation offered only lukewarm approval of sexual abuse. FacebookSuspension of Instagram Kids.
“When we’re happy Facebook Lina Nealon, director of institutional and strategic initiatives at the National Center for Sexual Exploitation, has paused its plans to make this app available to children, and should cancel this project entirely. “Facebook must put the health and safety of children before their own profits.”
Facebook Global security chief Antigone Davis is scheduled to testify before Mr. Smith. Blumenthal and Mrs. black burn He’s on the panel on consumer protection, product safety, and data security within the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday. Other companies have pledged to testify at future hearings, according to Bay. Blumenthal.
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