Mark Zuckerberg's idea of Instagram for kids was criticized and asked to be scrapped. This follows reports that his platform is fueling mental health problems.
Democratic lawmakers asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to do so after citing internal research by the company that suggested the platform had fueled mental health problems. The problem includes suicidal ideation among teen users, especially teenage girls.
The lawsuit comes as prominent lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee announced plans to investigate the company.
"Children and youth are a uniquely vulnerable population online, and these findings paint a clear and devastating picture of Instagram as an app that poses a significant threat to the well-being of young people," the lawmaker said.
Citing Gizmodo, the letter was signed by Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and representatives of Kathy Castor and Lori Trahan of Florida and Massachusetts, respectively.
The Wall Street Journal revealed that internal Facebook researchers have studied the impact of the photo-sharing app on the lives of millions of its young users. The researchers concluded that a sizable percentage of teenage girls believed that the app was responsible for mental health problems related to their self-image.
According to one slide, 32% of teenage girls said the app made them feel worse about their bodies.
"13% of British users and 6% of tracked American users had suicidal thoughts on Instagram," the Journal reports, citing another presentation.
Instagram is a huge platform and is used by most of the people in the world. The issue of cyberbullying, self-harm, and others often hits the application made by Facebook (now Meta) and becomes a prolonged debate.