Following congressional testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen, in a Facebook post Tuesday night the company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, pushed back against Haugen's allegations that the tech giant is hiding research about its shortcomings from investors and the public.
Facts First: While it's true that many teens surveyed may have reported having a positive experience with Instagram, that should not invalidate or outweigh the fact that it does have a negative impact on a sizable portion of its users. Both documents released by Haugen and other studies indicate that Instagram in particular can be harmful to teens, young girls especially, and in some cases exacerbate the very issues Zuckerberg says it helps make better.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, who covers Facebook, told CNN's John Berman on"New Day" that within a week of setting up an Instagram account as a 13-year-old girl that followed a few accounts about dieting and related topics,"Instagram's algorithm, the algorithm that Zuckerberg controls, is pounding that account now with suggestions, more and more and more, pro-eating disorder, pro-anorexia accounts.
For example, after Facebook released a quarterly report in August indicating the most popular posts on its platform were positive and innocuous, like recipes, The New York Times first reported that the company had shelved a report from the first three months of 2021 because of concerns it would look bad for the company. In that version, the Times reported, the top link on the platform was a piece of anti-vaccine information.
Zuckerberg’s company, his social media platform is this society’s cancer.
Hmmmm i would like to read his 1300 word statement first…