The Furor Over Facebook

Iris Tsouris, 18, has long struggled with body image issues, and she says Instagram has made it worse. She tries to make a point of following body positivity accounts, but when she clicks the Explore button, she’s offered a bunch of dieting posts about replacing meals with iced coffee.

“It perpetuates negative self-image in people, stuff that might feed into eating disorders,” says Tsouris, now a first-year student at Yale University in Connecticut.

So when Tsouris heard that Facebook’s own research shows that teenagers feel worse about themselves after using Instagram, which Facebook* owns, she’s wasn’t at all surprised.

Iris Tsouris, 18, has long struggled with body image issues. She says Instagram has made it worse. She tries to follow more body positivity accounts. But when she clicks the Explore button, she’s faced with a bunch of dieting posts about replacing meals with iced coffee.

“It perpetuates negative self-image in people, stuff that might feed into eating disorders,” says Tsouris, now a first-year student at Yale University in Connecticut.

Facebook’s research shows that teenagers feel worse about themselves after using Instagram, which Facebook* owns. When Tsouris found out, she’s wasn’t at all surprised.

What has been surprising to many Americans is that Facebook apparently knew all along that its products were causing harm. In early October, a former Facebook employee told a U.S. Senate subcommittee that Facebook has intentionally hidden disturbing research showing that teenagers feel worse about themselves after using Facebook products like Instagram. Frances Haugen, who worked on Facebook’s civic misinformation team, says the company also uses hateful content on its site to keep users coming back.

“I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy,” Haugen, 37, said during her testimony. “The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won’t make the necessary changes.”

What has surprised many Americans is that Facebook seems to have known all along that its products were causing harm. In early October, a former Facebook employee told a U.S. Senate subcommittee that Facebook has hidden disturbing research on purpose. The research shows that teenagers feel worse about themselves after using Facebook products like Instagram. Frances Haugen, who worked on Facebook’s civic misinformation team, says the company also uses hateful content on its site to keep users coming back.

“I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy,” Haugen, 37, said during her testimony. “The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won’t make the necessary changes.”

In addition to her testimony, Haugen made public thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents that experts say reveal Facebook’s top executives misled the public in order to maximize the company’s profits.   

“This research is the definition of a bombshell,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who led the hearing.

For years, lawmakers in Washington have struggled with how to regulate the massive technology companies that have become so powerful and so much a part of our everyday lives. More than 3.5 billion people worldwide use Facebook and the apps it owns, which include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Many of those users have come to depend on the company’s products for a wide range of services—so much so that the accidental outage of Facebook’s products one day in October wreaked global havoc (see “Making the World Go Round,” below).

Beyond her testimony, Haugen made public thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents. Experts say these files reveal that Facebook’s top executives misled the public. They say that the company’s leaders did that to maximize profits.

“This research is the definition of a bombshell,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, who led the hearing.

Massive technology companies have become very powerful. They’re now a part of our everyday lives. For years, lawmakers in Washington have struggled with how to regulate them. More than 3.5 billion people worldwide use Facebook and the apps it owns, which include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Many of those users have come to depend on the company’s products for a wide range of services. That’s why the accidental outage of Facebook’s products one day in October caused global havoc (see “Making the World Go Round,” below).

In addition to the research showing that Facebook’s products are harmful to teenage girls, critics say Facebook and Instagram have played a key role in spreading misinformation and deepening partisan divides.

After years of congressional hearings on Facebook and other large tech companies, Haugen’s appearance stood out not only for the inside look but also for the way she united Republican and Democratic lawmakers around tackling the issue of the platform’s harm to teenagers. Some senators called her testimony a “Big Tobacco” moment for the technology industry—a reference to the reining in of the tobacco industry in the late 1990s, which came in response to the realization of the harm it was causing.

To understand the accusations against Facebook, it helps to understand how Facebook became a $900 billion company. Facebook doesn’t charge its users; it makes its money selling ads. To maximize profits from advertising, the company needs to keep users on its platforms for as long as possible and clicking on as many ads as possible.

There are other concerns beyond the research showing that Facebook’s products are harmful to teenage girls. Critics say Facebook and Instagram have played a key role in spreading misinformation and deepening political divides.

After years of congressional hearings on Facebook and other large tech companies, Haugen’s appearance struck a chord. It gave an inside look, and she united Republican and Democratic lawmakers around tackling the issue of the platform’s harm to teenagers. Some senators called her testimony a “Big Tobacco” moment for the technology industry. The reference links this moment to the reining in of the tobacco industry in the late 1990s. That happened in response to the realization of the harm tobacco was causing.

To understand the accusations against Facebook, it helps to understand how Facebook became a $900 billion company. Facebook doesn’t charge its users; it makes its money selling ads. To increase profits from advertising, the company needs to keep users on its platforms for as long as possible. Profits also increase with clicks on ads.

To do that, Facebook uses algorithms that sort what individual users see and make educated predictions about what users are going to be interested in. The problem, experts say, is that appealing to our insecurities or getting us riled up with ever-more-extreme content keeps us more engaged on Facebook longer. So increasingly, that’s what the algorithms offer us.

“A big part of the problem, I think, is that Facebook has not cared so much about what the algorithms achieve, so long as the algorithms do what Facebook wants,” says David Weinberger, a researcher at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. “And what they want is to keep users on the site clicking on ads for as long as possible.”

To do that, Facebook uses algorithms that sort what individual users see. This technology makes educated guesses about what users will be interested in. Experts say that the problem is that appealing to our insecurities or getting us riled up with ever-more-extreme content keeps us more engaged on Facebook longer. So that’s what the algorithms offer us more and more.

“A big part of the problem, I think, is that Facebook has not cared so much about what the algorithms achieve, so long as the algorithms do what Facebook wants,” says David Weinberger, a researcher at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. “And what they want is to keep users on the site clicking on ads for as long as possible.”

This has been devastating for teenage girls in particular. Here’s how it plays out: A girl who feels anxious about her appearance follows diet influencers online. Instagram’s algorithm then suggests more extreme dieting accounts with names like “I have to be thin” and “Eternally starved.” The result, according to the leaked Facebook research, is that 32 percent of teen girls say that when they feel bad about their bodies, Instagram makes them feel worse.

Facebook has repeatedly pushed back on the criticism, saying the leaked company research was taken out of context and misunderstood.

“Most of us just don’t recognize the false picture of the company that is being painted,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a note to employees that was later posted online.

At the same time, Facebook has introduced new policies to protect teens on Instagram, including making their accounts private by default and limiting the ads they see. The company also called on lawmakers to take action.

“It’s time to begin to create standard rules for the internet,” says Facebook spokeswoman Lena Pietsch. “It’s been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”

This has been devastating for teenage girls in particular. Here’s how it plays out. A girl might feel anxious about her appearance. She winds up following diet influencers online. Instagram’s algorithm then suggests more extreme dieting accounts. These accounts have names like “I have to be thin” and “Eternally starved.” The result is that 32 percent of teen girls say that when they feel bad about their bodies, Instagram makes them feel worse, according to the leaked Facebook research.

Facebook has repeatedly pushed back on the criticism. The company says the leaked research was taken out of context and misunderstood.

“Most of us just don’t recognize the false picture of the company that is being painted,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a note to employees that was later posted online.

At the same time, Facebook has introduced new policies to protect teens on Instagram. That includes making their accounts private by default and limiting the ads they see. The company also called on lawmakers to take action.

“It’s time to begin to create standard rules for the internet,” says Facebook spokeswoman Lena Pietsch. “It’s been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”

Lawmakers seem to broadly agree about the need to hold Facebook to account. Their concerns aren’t limited to Facebook. Several weeks after Haugen’s testimony, a bipartisan group of senators told executives from YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok that they worried the companies’ software steered young people toward inappropriate posts, mishandled consumer data, and didn’t do enough to spot dangerous content on their platforms.

While senators seem to favor legislative action, there’s been little agreement about what that should look like. Dozens of bills on data privacy and changes to speech laws have stalled in Congress. House lawmakers approved a series of bills this year meant to strengthen antitrust laws intended to promote competition and prevent business monopolies, but the full House has not taken up the legislation, and its prospects in the Senate appear dim.

Lawmakers seem to broadly agree about the need to hold Facebook to account. Their concerns aren’t limited to Facebook. Several weeks after Haugen’s testimony, a bipartisan group of senators told executives from YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok that they worried the companies’ software steered young people toward inappropriate posts. They also expressed concern over mishandled consumer data and dangerous content across the platforms.

Senators seem to favor legislative action. Still, there’s been little agreement about what that should look like. Dozens of bills on data privacy and changes to speech laws have stalled in Congress. House lawmakers approved a series of bills this year meant to strengthen antitrust laws. Those type of laws aim to promote competition and prevent business monopolies. But the full House has not taken up the legislation. Its prospects in the Senate appear dim.

Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, says she doesn’t believe antitrust action to break up Facebook would address the core problems in the business model. She suggested legislation that would force companies like Facebook to open their systems to researchers to study the prevalence of hate speech and other harmful content.

“We can afford nothing less than full transparency,” Haugen said. “Left alone, Facebook will continue to make choices that go against the common good.”

Roger McNamee was an early investor in Facebook and an adviser to Mark Zuckerberg in the business’s early days. About five years ago, he became alarmed by what he sees as the harm being caused by Facebook’s business model, and he pleaded with Zuckerberg to change course. When that didn’t happen, he became one of Facebook’s most outspoken critics.

Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, says she doesn’t believe antitrust action to break up Facebook would address the core problems in the business model. She suggested laws that would force companies like Facebook to open their systems to researchers to study why hate speech and other harmful content persists.

“We can afford nothing less than full transparency,” Haugen said. “Left alone, Facebook will continue to make choices that go against the common good.”

Roger McNamee was an early investor in Facebook and an adviser to Mark Zuckerberg in the business’s early days. About five years ago, he became alarmed by what he sees as the harm being caused by Facebook’s business model. He pleaded with Zuckerberg to change course. When that didn’t happen, he became one of Facebook’s most outspoken critics.

Now, McNamee is urging Congress to act. “You have to have rules about what’s allowed and what’s not,” he says.

McNamee points to previous examples of the government stepping in to regulate industries that were causing harm: In the early 1900s, the nation’s food and medicine supply was unsafe, and the government responded by passing the Pure Food and Drug Act to regulate them. In the 1950s, companies were pumping toxic waste into our air and rivers, and the government responded by passing environmental legislation.

“We face this problem routinely with new industries,” McNamee says. “Every time, the industry says ‘If you regulate us, the end of the world will happen.’ Demonstrably, that is not true. We could pass a law to make the internet safer. We’ve done this before.”

Now, McNamee is urging Congress to act. “You have to have rules about what’s allowed and what’s not,” he says.

McNamee points to previous examples of the government stepping in to regulate industries that were causing harm. In the early 1900s, the nation’s food and medicine supply was unsafe. The government responded by passing the Pure Food and Drug Act to regulate them. In the 1950s, companies were pumping toxic waste into our air and rivers. The government responded by passing environmental laws.

“We face this problem routinely with new industries,” McNamee says. “Every time, the industry says ‘If you regulate us, the end of the world will happen.’ Demonstrably, that is not true. We could pass a law to make the internet safer. We’ve done this before.”

^{* At press time, Facebook announced it was renaming its parent company Meta.}

^{* At press time, Facebook announced it was renaming its parent company Meta.}

With reporting by Cecilia Kang, Erin Woo, Raymond Zhong, and Adam Satariano of The New York Times.

With reporting by Cecilia Kang, Erin Woo, Raymond Zhong, and Adam Satariano of The New York Times.