Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT questioned Instagram head Adam Mosseri during a Senate subcommittee hearing regarding child safety on the social media platform on Dec. 8.
Mosseri said Instagram will make data about the effect of the platform on children publicly available for third party researchers. Mosseri told Blumenthal he does not think Instagram is addictive, but Blumenthal pushed back, saying that the UK has imposed a design restriction for the platform to be less addictive.
Facebook executive Adam Mosseri is testifying in the hearing amid heightened scrutiny of social media companies including one of the world’s largest social media platforms — Facebook — and their reported decisions to prioritize growth over other concerns. Facebook is the owner of Instagram.
Former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen has testified to U.S. and European lawmakers working on those measures in recent months, citing internal company research suggesting that peer pressure generated by Facebook-owned Instagram has led to mental health and body-image problems in young users.
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