Instagram’s President Adam Mosseri Agrees to Testify Before Congress


Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, has agreed to testify before Congress for the first time as bipartisan anger harms youth from the app.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who will chair the trial, said Mr Mosseri is expected to appear before a Senate panel the week of December 6 as part of a series of hearings on protecting children online.

Mr Mosseri’s appearance following this year’s hearings Antigone Davisbecame an informant, along with Frances Haugen, a former employee and global head of security at Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta. Ms. Haugen’s statements about the social networking company, particularly her research on the effects of Facebook and Instagram on some teens and teenage girls, have encouraged criticism, questions from politicians, and investigations by regulators.

In September, Ms Davis noted to Congress that the company had objected to the premise that Instagram is harmful to teens, and that the leaked research had no causal data. But after Ms. Haugen’s deposition last month, Connecticut Democrat Mr. Blumenthal said: wrote a letter He suggested to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, that his company “provided me with false or false testimony regarding attempts to internally conceal his research.”

To fix the record, Mr. Blumenthal requested that Mr. Zuckerberg or Mr. Mosseri testify before the consumer protection subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee.

Mr Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, said: “He’s the best man on Instagram and the whole nation is asking why Instagram and other tech platforms are creating so much danger and harm by giving children toxic content with these extremely powerful algorithms.” . “The hearing will be critical in guiding us to develop laws that could have an impact on making platforms safer.”

Meta spokesperson Dani Lever said in a statement: “We continue to work with the committee to find a date for Adam to testify about important steps Instagram has taken.”

Mr Blumenthal said he would question Mr Mosseri about how Instagram’s algorithms could send children down dangerous rabbit holes. Since Mr Blumenthal’s subcommittee began a series of hearings, legislators have heard hundreds of parents and children share personal anecdotes, including stories about how posts about fitness have turned into content recommendations about dieting, eating disorders and self-harm.

Mr Blumenthal said he would seek a commitment from Mr Mosseri to make Instagram’s ranking and recommendation decisions transparent to the public and experts who can examine how the app amplifies harmful content. Mr Blumenthal said the executives of Snap, TikTok and YouTube, all testifying at a previous hearing, are committed to algorithmic transparency.

While Mr. Zuckerberg is used to being thrown in front of US lawmakers, this will be the first time Mr. Mosseri will testify against them under oath. A trusted lieutenant to Mr. Zuckerberg, who was selected to run Instagram in 2018, Mr. Mosseri has become the public face of the photo-sharing app, hosting regular video announcements about new features and appearing on morning television shows.

In September, before Ms. Davis’ hearing in the Senate, Mr. Mosseri appeared on NBC’s Today Show to announce the future of Instagram. pause development A version of the app designed for children, following the public backlash caused by Ms. Haugen’s leaks and renewed interest from lawmakers. BuzzFeed News It was first reported in March that the company was working on a version of Instagram for kids under 13.

Mr. Mosseri’s planned appearance is the latest reflection from Ms. Haugen’s leaked files, first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Those documents called Facebook PapersIt formed the basis of numerous complaints to the Securities and Exchange Commission that Meta misled investors about its efforts to protect users.

Last week, a bipartisan group of 11 state attorneys general opened an investigation Whether Meta has failed to protect the mental health of young people across its platforms, including Instagram.



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