The hearing in front of the Senate consumer protection
subcommittee was called after the Wall Street Journal published several stories
earlier this month about how Facebook knew Instagram caused some teen girls in
particular to feel badly about their self-image. After growing opposition to
the project, Facebook put plans for Instagram Kids, aimed at pre-teens, on hold
this week.
Antigone Davis, Facebook's global head of safety, disputed
the committee and WSJ's conclusions of the research documents throughout the
hearing, and said the company was working to release additional internal
studies in an effort to be more transparent about its findings.
"This research is a bombshell," said Senator
Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, during the hearing. "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."
"IG stands for Instagram, but it also stands for
Insta-greed," said Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
The senators pressed Davis on several major themes,
including what identifiable data Facebook collects on users under the age of
13, to what extent the company views young users as a growth area and to
confirm whether it knew that Instagram led some children to consider suicide.
Davis reiterated that kids under 13 were not allowed on
Facebook, adding 0.5 percent of teens in the company's research connected their
"suicidal ideation" to Instagram, lower than the figures the Journal
had reported.
"You've cherry-picked part of the research that you
think helps your spin right now," said Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from
Texas, demanding Facebook commit to releasing its full research on the links
between Instagram and youth suicide.
A second hearing is planned for Tuesday and will feature a
Facebook whistleblower. The whistleblower is expected to reveal their identity
on Sunday in a recorded interview for TV news programme "60 Minutes,"
which in a preview described the woman as a former Facebook employee who left
with tens of thousands of pages of research.
Davis said Thursday that Facebook would not retaliate
against the whistleblower for sharing confidential documents with the senators.
© Reuters