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US lawmakers grill Facebook on spiking mental health fears

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Joshua Melvin, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Facebook argued a specially designed platform would allow some parental control in an online world already full of children, but critics called it a cynical strategy to hook the youngest users. Elijah Nouvelage, Reuters/file" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/09/30/20210930_facebook-moderation.jpg"/><figcaption>Facebook argued a specially designed platform would allow some parental control in an online world already full of children, but critics called it a cynical strategy to hook the youngest users. <em>Elijah Nouvelage, Reuters/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>US lawmakers Thursday demanded pledges from Facebook to address escalating worries over its platforms&#x27; impact on teens&#x27; mental health, but a top executive instead offered assurances the sites are already safe.</p><p>Senators grilled the social media giant&#x27;s Antigone Davis in an hours-long Capitol Hill hearing called over damning reports that Facebook&#x27;s own research warned of the harm photo-sharing app Instagram can do to teenage girls&#x27; well-being.</p><p>&quot;This research is a bombshell. It is powerful, gripping, riveting evidence that Facebook knows of the harmful effects of its site on children, and that it has concealed those facts and findings,&quot; Senator Richard Blumenthal said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/22/21/facebook-seeks-to-defend-itself-after-scathing-reports">‘Without important context’: Facebook seeks to defend itself after scathing reports</a></li></ul><p>Davis, under questioning from Blumenthal and other senators, repeatedly said a Wall Street Journal series had selectively chosen parts of its studies to give an inaccurately dark vision of the company&#x27;s work.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/17/21/facebook-boosts-fight-vs-conspiracies-violent-groups">Facebook boosts fight against conspiracies, violent groups</a></li></ul><p>She told lawmakers that a survey of teens on 12 serious issues like anxiety, sadness and eating disorders, showed that Instagram was generally helpful to them.</p><p>&quot;On 11 of the 12 issues, teen girls who said they struggled with those issues were more likely to say that Instagram was affirmatively helping them, not making it worse,&quot; said Davis, who delivered her testimony remotely.</p><p>Yet, Blumenthal read aloud excerpts from company documents he said were leaked to lawmakers by a Facebook whistleblower that directly contradicted her.</p><div><strong>- Facebook whistleblower -</strong></div><p>&quot;Substantial evidence suggests that experiences on Instagram and Facebook make body dissatisfaction worse,&quot; he said, adding the finding was not a disgruntled worker&#x27;s complaint but company research. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/14/21/facebook-shields-vips-from-some-of-its-rules-report">Facebook shields VIPs from some of its rules: report</a></li></ul><p>A Facebook whistleblower is set to testify before senators on Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear if that person was also the source of the leaked documents. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/10/21/facebook-ray-ban-debut-smart-shades">Facebook takes ‘step toward future’ with Ray-Ban Stories shades</a></li></ul><p>The social media giant has faced a growing backlash, including Thursday&#x27;s hearing, in the wake of the Journal reports, and it has halted work on a fiercely criticized plan to make a version of Instagram for children under 13.</p><p>Facebook argued a specially designed platform would allow some parental control in an online world already full of children, but critics called it a cynical strategy to hook the youngest users.</p><p>Lawmakers on Thursday demanded a pledge from Facebook to release all of its research and not to take aims at children under 13.</p><p>&quot;Miss Davis will you commit that Facebook will not launch any platforms targeting kids 12 and under that include features... that allow children to quantify popularity?&quot; asked Senator Ed Markey.</p><p>Davis sidestepped his query and instead said the company&#x27;s products &quot;enrich&quot; lives by allowing teens to connect with friends and family.</p><p>She added Facebook was looking into ways to share more of its findings, but that there were &quot;privacy considerations&quot; to take into account.</p><p>On Wednesday, the company released a heavily annotated version of two presentations on its own research but it was unclear what percentage they represent of its internal studies. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/19/21/facebook-touts-efforts-reducing-covid-vaccine-hesitancy">Facebook says it is helping reduce COVID vaccine hesitancy</a></li></ul><p>The company has been under relentless pressure to guard against being a platform where misinformation, hate and child-harming content can spread. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/08/26/21/facebook-could-launch-digital-wallet-this-year-report">Facebook could launch digital wallet this year: report</a></li></ul><p>Legislators have struggled to pass new rules that would update online protections in decades-old laws crafted long before social media even existed.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1771089" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Legislators have struggled to pass new rules that would update online protections in decades-old laws crafted long before social media even existed.

US lawmakers grill Facebook on spiking mental health fears

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US lawmakers grill Facebook on spiking mental health fears

Joshua Melvin,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 01, 2021 06:01 AM PHT

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mental health

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