A Senate panel will grill a Facebook Inc. executive next week in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report that found Facebook had knowledge that its platforms have a negative impact on young users yet has done little to address the problem.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., will convene a hearing before a Senate consumer-protection subcommittee next Thursday, Sept. 30, entitled “Protecting Kids Online: Facebook, Instagram, & Mental Health Harms.”“Mark Zuckerberg’s guiding principle for Facebook is profit,” Blackburn said in a statement Thursday. “The platform was fully aware that Facebook had serious and harmful issues.
The Journal last week published a series of articles examining problems with Facebook’s platforms, including Instagram, and the harm they cause. One report found the social-media giant knew Instagram was toxic for teenage girls, yet played down its mental-health impact in public. Following the reports, which Facebook has characterized as “mischaracterizations,” Blackburn and Blumenthal announced their intention to hold a Senate hearing into the matter.
Facebook shares FB, +0.80% have fallen more than 7% over the past five days, but are still up 27% year to date, compared to the S&P 500’s SPX, +1.21% 18% gain this year.
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