ROANOKE, Va – It’s hard to imagine our daily lives without things like Facebook or Instagram, but legislators from both sides of the aisle are now trying to change that for children.
“Facebook knows the disruptive consequences that Instagram’s design and algorithm are having on our young people, but it prioritizes its own rapid growth over basic safety for our children,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said.
On Thursday, Instagram testified on Capitol Hill after parents raised concerns that the app and others like it will have long-term mental health impacts on young children.
[Facebook puts Instagram for kids on hold after pushback]
“Aspects of Instagram exacerbate each other to create a perfect storm in that perfect storm manifest itself in the minds of teenagers in the form of intense social pressure,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
The company defended its work, saying it has helped connect teenagers to resources they may not always have.
“Out of 11 of the 12 issues teen girls said they struggled with those issues were more likely to say that Instagram was affirmatively helping them, not making it worse,” Facebook Global Head of Safety Antigone Davis said. Counselors from Family Service of the Roanoke Valley say children have become more dependent on social media during the pandemic than ever before.
“During this pandemic, that’s been really, really important. However, I think social media is a double-edged sword,” counselor Sarah Harig said. They say limiting screen time and talking about things teens and children may be struggling with is one way to help lower the potentially harmful impacts of social media. “It’s not so much the social media piece that’s the problem is how much, how much teams are being exposed to and I think that’s part of the problem,” Harig said.
Harig said another good way to help reduce the impacts of social media is to encourage children to have other hobbies and spend time with family when possible.