Facebook argued with the release of 'Instagram's Impact on Teens', but shortly afterwards, the press released more internal material

by Stock Catalog

Facebook criticized the Wall Street Journal, a U.S. economic newspaper, for saying, 'Facebook didn't take action even though it knew that Instagram would hurt teens.' We published two internal investigation reports and argued. However, immediately after Facebook's counterargument, the Wall Street Journal also released six PDF files that are Facebook's internal materials, and countered Facebook's counterargument.

What Our Research Really Says About Teen Well-Being and Instagram --About Facebook
https://about.fb.com/news/2021/09/research-teen-well-being-and-instagram/

Facebook's Documents About Instagram and Teens, Published --WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-documents-instagram-teens-11632953840

It all started when the Wall Street Journal reported on September 15, 2021, based on Facebook's internal sources that 'Facebook knew that Instagram was harmful to teens.' The Wall Street Journal questioned Facebook's willingness to develop Instagram for children, even though it knew that Instagram was harmful to young people.

Facebook continues to recognize that Instagram is harmful to teens-GIGAZINE

The press reportedly increased criticism of Facebook, and it was reported that the Senate Commercial Commission of Congress contacted Facebook whistleblowers and launched an investigation.

Congress launches new investigation on Facebook's concealment that 'Instagram is harmful to teenage mental health'-GIGAZINE

Facebook has frozen the criticism of Instagram development for children , but at the same time denied the Wall Street Journal's coverage on its official blog, saying, 'Simply, Instagram is harmful to teenage girls. It is not accurate to indicate. '

Facebook officially argues against reports that 'Instagram was hiding the perception that it was harmful to the mental health of young people' --GIGAZINE

The following two research reports have been released by Facebook this time, and were submitted as reference materials to the Senate Trade Subcommittee. In it, Facebook explained, 'Many teenage girls have overcome difficult times by using Instagram on 11 issues such as loneliness, anxiety, sadness, and diet.' He expressed the idea that the data showed that Instagram had a positive effect on young people, and said that the Wall Street Journal intentionally cut out only a part of the report's content and reported it. I did.

Hard Life Moments --Mental health Deep Dive
(PDF file) https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Instagram-Teen-Annotated-Research-Deck-1.pdf

Teen Mental Health Deep Dive
(PDF file) https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Instagram-Teen-Annotated-Research-Deck-2.pdf

However, hours after Facebook published two research reports, The Wall Street Journal published six of the internal sources that sourced the main article:

Teen Girls Body Image and Social Comparison on Instagram --An Exploratory Study in the US
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/teen-girls-body-image-and-social-comparison-on-instagram.pdf

Teen Mental Health Deep Dive
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/teen-mental-health-deep-dive.pdf

Appearance-based social comparison on Instagram
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/appearance-based-social-comparison-on-instagram.pdf

Social comparison: Topics, celebrities, Like counts, selfies
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/social-comparison-topics-celebrities-like-counts-selfies.pdf

Mental Health Findings
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/mental-health-findings.pdf

Teens & Young Adults on IG & FB
(PDF file) https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/teens-young-adults-on-ig-and-facebook.pdf

Of these, 'Teen Mental Health Deep Dive' and 'Mental Health Findings' include some of the research reports published by Facebook. According to The Wall Street Journal, both files were submitted to Congress by Facebook whistleblowers.

The Wall Street Journal said, 'The first article that pointed out the problem was a research report, as well as online employee discussions, draft presentations to senior executives, and more. It's written on the basis of part of the communication. Our article reveals how well Facebook knew that its platform was flawed. '

The hearing on Facebook is scheduled to begin at 0:30 on October 1, 2021 in Japan time.