By: EFE
By: EFE
SAN FRANCISCO – The boss of Instagram , Adam Mosseri , will come to testify on December 6 before a subcommittee of the Senate on the negative impact that the platform has among users, especially among the youngest.
Connecticut Democratic Senator and Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair, Richard Blumenthal, explained in a statement that Mosseri has voluntarily agreed to testify.
Blumenthal also said he hopes that the head of Instagram will support “specific legislative reforms and solutions.”
In September, The Wall Street Journal newspaper began to publish a series of articles made from internal Facebook reports leaked to the press by an ex-worker who indicates that Meta (then known as Facebook and which owns Instagram) prioritizes benefits over the safety and well-being of users.
Among other things, the documents determine that Instagram is harmful to a part of its younger users and that is especially “toxic” for adolescent girls , since it “aggravates” the problems that one in three girls have with their body image.
“After the shocking revelations about the toxic effects of Instagram, we want the company management to explain to us how it uses its powerful algorithms to promote poisonous content for children that takes them to the darkest places”, indicated Blumenthal.
The negative effects of the popular photography platform on the mental health of adolescents were determined by studies and surveys conducted finished by the application itself.
Among the young American women surveyed who said they had contemplated suicide , 6% assured that one of the reasons that had led them to this was Instagram, a percentage that rose to 13% in the case of British adolescents.
Related news:
– Frances Haugen: the woman who leaked the “Facebook Files” reveals her identity
– Facebook challenged by the mental health impact of Instagram on adolescents
– “Facebook Files” : 5 revelations of the social network documents leaked in the press