Last year, a whistleblower at Facebook lifted the curtain on how the platform, and its sister companies, impact young kids' mental health.
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, alongside teachers and health experts, is raising concerns about the long-term effects social media can have on kids. In an event this week hosted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), she described the corrosive effects social media have on kids' mental well-being as a public health crisis.
"If we hold children's toys to a product liability standard, where you need to demonstrate you did safety by design, why aren't we asking the same thing of these virtual products for children?" Haugen questioned. "Especially as we move into the land of the 'metaverse,' which is going to be an emergent harm."
Haugen argued social media companies should be held to Congressionally-mandated standards, an idea which has rare bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Meta, Facebook's parent company, contended it already has adequate internal safeguards and protocols.
Among other things, Haugen revealed leaders at Instagram, which is also owned by Meta, knew the platform's algorithm fed kids potentially harmful content, but opted to essentially double down in order to drive user engagement.
Dalia Hashad, director of online safety for the Washington, D.C.-based organization ParentsTogether, said such strategies have long-term consequences.
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