Is This Facebook's 'Big Tobacco' Moment?
Facebook Inc. executives have long boasted that its platforms are safe, even as they invested in ways to keep teenagers hooked and hid what they knew about the side effects. Sound familiar? Critics say Big Tobacco once used the same playbook, and it’s fueling a whole new level of outrage against the social media giant.
Facebook consistently played down its own research that showed how photo-sharing app Instagram can harm the mental well-being of its youngest users, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Almost a third of young teen girls told Facebook they feel worse about their bodies after scrolling through the site, documents reviewed by the newspaper showed. Despite that knowledge, Facebook is dedicating more resources to reaching even younger consumers, including developing a children’s version of Instagram.
The revelations are prompting some lawmakers to compare Facebook’s actions to a decades-long campaign by the country’s biggest tobacco companies to mislead the public about the cancerous and habit-forming effects of cigarettes. “Its executives knew about the addictive chemicals in tobacco and yet they did nothing to try and keep the product out of the hands of children,” says Representative Bill Johnson, an Ohio Republican. “They knew that if they could get children addicted early, they’d have a customer for life. It’s very much the same way—children, young people, are addicted to these platforms, and you can see report after report on the damage that’s being done.”
The long-term effects of social media are exactly what’s driving concerns about Facebook’s plan to build an Instagram for kids. The service, sometimes called Instagram Youth internally, is intended to give preteens an entrance ramp onto social media until they turn 13 and are allowed to join the main site. Facebook argues that kids are lying about their age to get on Instagram anyway, so a youth-oriented product—with parental controls—would be a safer alternative.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-23/facebook-fb-big-tobacco-moment-internal-mental-health-research?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-businessweek&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=businessweek
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... that's a poor comparison. The "addictions' are very different. Also, I think, "almost a third of young teen girls" might "feel worse about their bodies after scrolling" through any fashion magazine catering to young teen girls.
... and, doesn't this include boys? It seems like images everywhere want boys to do steroids - like images want girls to get implants. It's all over... and I see it in middle school-aged kids now... it's very sad. Young teenagers need to celebrate different body types and not try to change before they're even grown!
