On Capitol Hill, senators grilled Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri Wednesday amid damning reports the social app causes widespread mental harm to children and teenagers. Mosseri said Congress should create a body to regulate social media, placing the responsibility for its dangers on the industry at large. Instagram recently halted plans for an app geared toward children, but, under questioning, Mosseri would not commit to never developing such an app, saying instead, if created, it would require parental consent. This is Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “I think that we are in diametrically opposed goals: the goals of parents out there and the goals of your company. Our kids aren’t cash cows, and that is exactly what’s been going on, because when you look at the marketing budget and you look at what your company has done, it’s to try to get more and more of them on board.”
Instagram is owned by Facebook’s recently-renamed parent company, Meta.