By Shubhangi Mathur
Democratic lawmakers are demanding Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to call off plans to launch an “Instagram for Kids.” Recent reports suggest that the social media platform triggers mental-health problems in youth.
Top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee had announced their plans to investigate the company.
“Children and teens are uniquely vulnerable populations online, and these findings paint a clear and devastating picture of Instagram as an app that poses significant threats to young people’s wellbeing,” the lawmakers said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Instagram’s researchers found out the app was responsible for mental health issues related to their self-image.
According to WSJ, the researchers wrote in a slide presentation posted to Facebook’s internal message board, “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.”
The Journal also found out that 32% of teen girls felt worse about their bodies due to the app, and of those experiencing suicidal thoughts, “13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram.”
Facebook has refused to make the research available to lawmakers saying its data is proprietary but claims to be ready to work with Congress.
BuzzFeed News had reported in March that Facebook is planning to work on a version on Instagram exclusively for children under the age of 13, and the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, confirmed the news.
The social-media giant said the version would be a “solution” to the challenges of age verification. The platform would have stronger controls and transparency for parents.
Whether it will to market remains unclear.
(With inputs from Gizmodo)