The head of Instagram said Wednesday that he aims to launch a version of the app with a chronological feed next year and not an algorithmic rank, in his first appearance before Congress where he was told about child safety online Was.
Instagram’s Adam Mosseri was the latest tech executive called by lawmakers to provide more transparency in its platform’s algorithms and the impact of the content they curate and recommend for users.
Instagram and its parent company Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, have come under intense scrutiny over the potential impact of their services on mental health, body image and the safety of young users, with whistleblower Frances Hogen citing the company’s approach. Internal documents have been leaked about young user.
Speaking before a Senate panel, Mosseri said the photo-sharing app had been working for “months” on an alternative to a chronologically ordered feed and planned to launch it in early 2022, an addition to the service. In a significant variation, which uses algorithmic ranking. Personalize feeds based on user preferences.
During the hearing, lawmakers pushed for specific answers on what legislative reforms Mosseri would support to protect children online, including targeted advertising. In his inaugural address, Senator Richard Blumenthal said the time for self-regulation was over.
In his testimony, Mosseri called for the creation of an industry body to determine best practices to help keep youth safe online. He said the body should seek input from civil society, parents and regulators to create standards to verify age, design age-appropriate experiences and build parental controls.
Mosseri said tech companies must comply with the standards set by this proposed industry body to “earn” some of their Section 230 protections, referring to a major US internet law that protects tech companies from liability on content posted by users. The platform provides security.
‘too little too late’
Instagram has suspended plans for a version of the app for children from September, amid growing opposition to the project.
The pause followed a Wall Street Journal report that said internal documents leaked by former Facebook employee Haugen showed the company knew Instagram could have harmful mental health effects on teens.
Speaking at the hearing, Mosseri echoed the company’s previous statements that public reporting mishandled internal research. He didn’t commit to putting a permanent stop to the kids-focused version of Instagram.
She also touted the product announcements made by Instagram on Tuesday to protect young users, but Senator Marsha Blackburn called the update “too little, too late,” while Senator Blumenthal called for changes including Instagram’s pause on its kids app. called “public”. relationship strategy.
In a call after the hearing, Blackburn said she wanted to look at Instagram’s offer “today” as an alternative to a purely chronological news feed, while Blumenthal said it could be a “significant step forward depending on the details”. Is.
Senator Blackburn also said that his team created a fake Instagram account for a 15-year-old man, following Instagram’s changes to create new accounts for users under 16 by default to a public account. Regardless, was private by default. Mosseri said the flaw was remembered on the web version of the site and will be fixed.
Instagram, like other social media sites, rules against joining the platform for children under the age of 13, but has said it knows it has users at this age. In his testimony, Mosseri called for more age verification technology at the phone level, rather than individual tech platforms, so that users have an “age-appropriate experience”.
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