Senators accuse Facebook of concealing research showing Instagram use can harm teens …

WASHINGTON — Senators fired a barrage of criticism Thursday at a Facebook executive over the social-networking giant’s handling of internal research on how its Instagram photo-sharing platform can harm teens. The lawmakers accused Facebook of concealing the negative findings about Instagram and demanded a commitment from the company to make changes. During testimony before a Senate Commerce subcommittee, Antigone Davis, Facebook’s head of global safety, defended Instagram’s efforts to protect young people using its platform. She disputed the way a recent newspaper story describes what the research shows. “We care deeply about the safety and security of the people on our platform,” Davis said. “We take the issue very seriously. … We have put in place multiple protections to create safe and age-appropriate experiences for people between the ages of 13 and 17.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the subcommittee chairman, wasn’t convinced. “I don’t understand how you can deny that Instagram is exploiting young users for its own profit,” he told Davis. The panel is examining Facebook’s use of information from its own researchers that could indicate potential harm for some of its young users, especially girls, while it publicly downplayed the negative impacts. For some of the Instagram-devoted teens,…
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