Contact:
David Monahan, Fairplay ([email protected])
Josh Golin statement on congressional hearing with Facebook’s Antigone Davis
BOSTON, MA —Thursday, September 30, 2021—Josh Golin, Fairplay Executive Director, says “It is clear that nothing has changed at Facebook, despite being caught red-handed suppressing its own research. The company continues to view the fact that Instagram undermines teens’ wellbeing as an inconvenient PR problem, not the pressing public health issue that it actually is. And Facebook is still peddling the fiction that their interest in Instagram Kids is driven by concern for children’s safety, when the company’s own leaked documents make clear it’s part of a larger strategy for growth, and to compete with TikTok and Snap for young users. Through her evasions and non-responses, Antigone Davis made clear that the company will not make any substantive changes on its own. We urge Congress to launch an immediate investigation of Facebook and subpoena all of their research and plans regarding children and teens. And every single Senator who called out Facebook today should support Senator Markey and Senator Blumenthal’s KIDS Act, as well as proposed updates to COPPA, because we need legislation to address the damaging design and predatory data collection practices of platforms like Instagram.”
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