Instagram is being investigated for how it attracts and affects the youngest users.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP via Getty Images
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KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP via Getty Images
Instagram is being investigated for how it attracts and affects the youngest users.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP via Getty Images
A bipartisan team of the state attorney general is investigating how Instagram attracts and potentially harms children and young people.
The investigation follows revelations from a whistleblower about how Instagram’s parent company Meta, formerly known as Facebook, studied risk of photo-sharing apps for its youngest users, including exacerbating body image problems for some teenage girls.
“Facebook, now Meta, failed to protect young people on its platform and instead chose to ignore or, in some cases, mitigate known manipulations that pose a threat. true to physical and mental health – exploitation of children for profit,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who co-led the states’ investigation, said in a statement.
“Meta can no longer ignore the threats that social media can pose to children for their ultimate good,” she said.
The group includes prosecutors from at least 10 states, including California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont. They are checking whether Meta violates consumer protection laws and puts the public at risk.
The pressure on Meta has increased since the former employee Frances Haugen Leaked thousands of pages of internal documents about how the company researched and addressed a range of issues, from hate speech to “Stop the Steal” Movement come impact on mental health of Instagram on teen users.
The documents also show that Meta is fighting to attract and maintain the attention of young people, amid competition from apps like TikTok and Snapchat.
The states are investigating the techniques Meta used to get young people to log into Instagram more often and spend more time scrolling the app, and how those features could harm users.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said: “When social media platforms treat our children like a mere commodity to be manipulated to induce longer screen time and extract data. whether, the Nebraska attorney said.
Instagram spokeswoman Liza Crenshaw said: “These accusations are untrue and represent a profound misunderstanding of the facts. “While the challenges of protecting youth online affect the entire industry, we have led the industry in combating bullying and supporting those struggling with suicidal ideation, self-injury, and self-injury. and eating disorders.”
She points to new features Instagram has introduced, including a “Rest for a while” reminding that users can enable and parental monitoring tools for the teen’s account.
After Instagram’s internal study of the risks to teen mental health was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in September, legislators and regulators continued to call for Meta scrap it plans to roll out a version of the app for children 12 years old and under. (Instagram, like most social media apps, bans users under the age of 13 because of federal privacy laws.)
Soon after, Meta said they were bringing the project keep.
Editor’s Note: Meta pays NPR to license NPR content.
