Facebook’s safety chief on Thursday insisted to a Senate panel that the Wall Street Journal’s recent reporting is “not a bombshell,” but senators clearly disagreed, with one Massachusetts Democrat likening Facebook and Instagram to Big Tobacco.
The Journal published stories based on Facebook research slides decks, as well as interviews with current and former employees of the social network. Among other things, they suggested that Facebook gives VIP users special treatment, and failed to take serious action on data that showed social media use exacerbating mental health issues like depression and eating disorders among younger users.
At the hearing before a Senate Commerce subcommittee today, Facebook Global Head of Safety Director Antigone Davis reiterated that the social network believes the Journal mischaracterized Facebook’s research. But she also demonstrated a clear disconnect between Facebook’s official policies and what’s actually happening on its services.
For example, Sen. Richard Blumenthal—Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security—said that his office created a fake Instagram account that posed as a 13-year-old girl and followed easily accessible accounts associated with eating disorders and extreme dieting. Almost immediately, the account was filled with recommendations that promoted self-injury and eating disorders, Sen. Blumenthal said today.
When asked about that account later in the hearing by Ranking Member Marsha Blackburn, Facebook’s Davis said “we do not direct people toward content that promotes eating disorders.” Facebook uses artificial intelligence to find and remove it, she said.
Sen. Blackburn asked if the content served up to Sen. Blumenthal’s fake account was an outlier then, but Davis was unable to answer except to say that such content is “against our policies.”
Facebook released two heavily annotated slide decks about its research last night, in a bid to blunt the impact of the Journal’s stories ahead of today’s hearing. That prompted the Journal to reveal four additional slide decks that informed its reporting.
When asked today if Facebook would commit to releasing more of its research publicly, Davis said Facebook would work to do so, but would need to review what it has for potential “privacy considerations.” Facebook is also “looking for ways to give external researchers access … so they can do independent research,” Davis said.
Overall, the hearing went as these things usually go—senators ate up valuable time demanding yes or no questions they insisted were necessary to save time, and failed to grasp certain tech concepts, while Davis largely stuck to the script and had a lot of “I’ll be happy to get that information for you” answers. But senators on both sides of the aisle were uncharacteristically united in their derision for Facebook.
Sen. Blumenthal accused Facebook of making money “when kids deceive their parents” by creating fake Instagram accounts (or Finstas). Davis argued that these secret accounts are more about privacy than deception.
Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., meanwhile, told Davis that “Instagram is that first childhood cigarette [and] Facebook is just like Big Tobacco,” pushing a product they know is bad.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-AK, even questioned whether China had the right idea with its mandated online gaming time-outs for kids. Davis didn’t bite.