Another day, another big tech company in court (it’s getting a bit out of hand now). Latest in the US Senate’s line of fire is Meta’s (FB) Instagram, which is set to testify on December 6th.
The hearing comes as a response to leaks in September known as the Facebook Papers, which revealed that Instagram was aware of its app’s dangerous effects on teenage children but chose to not do much about it. Since then, senior politicians in the US have pressured Mosseri to appear in front of the Senate to respond to their concerns. Before the reports came out, Instagram was working on Instagram Kids (Insta for only under-13s) — but after the public backlash against it, Mosseri announced that the project will be put on hold until feedback from policymakers and parents is implemented.
Why it matters
Effects of the Facebook Papers are still rippling across US government halls. What makes it worse is that the hearing has come as a last resort after Instagram dodged the government’s earlier efforts to question them. Whether the hearing results in action or not, the damage in terms of PR has been done for Instagram already.
