The Wall Street Journal published Tuesday's latest installment of its investigative series The Facebook Files. This dives deeper into the efforts of the ubiquitous platform to recruit and target young children.
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The Journal has obtained internal documents that reveal that Facebook created a special team to study children, and then brainstorm ways they could be monetized. One of these documents is about children aged between 10 and 12, also known as "tweens", which refers to them as valuable but under-utilized audiences. Another document suggests that playdates could be used to increase Facebook's growth.
The Journal also cites another document, dated March 2021. It states that Facebook is having trouble with global teens penetration.
The pervasive tracking of Facebook users is the basis of nearly all its revenue. This data allows it to build extensive behavior profiles that can be used to target ads and measure effectiveness. Facebook is prohibited from harvesting data of children under 13 years old. However, the company has spent many years trying to convince them to use its services.
The Journal also cites another Facebook document that states that children have started using the internet at the age of six.
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Facebook announced this week that it had stopped working on an Instagram Kids app. This announcement came after another Journal report that revealed Facebook knew from internal research that Instagram had adverse effects on the mental health of some teens. One in three teenage girls find that we make their body image problems worse, according to the research. It also noted that some teens had attributed their suicidal thoughts to their Instagram experiences. Facebook later claimed that this line of research was misleading and that it only covered teenage girls who reported feeling worse about their body image than the rest.
This report prompted Democratic lawmakers to ask CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the shuttering of the Instagram Kids project. They said that the app was a significant threat to the wellbeing of young people.
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Facebook has questioned the Journals description of its Instagram research. However, it has refused to make that research public for review and has tried to block independent research into the platform's inner workings. At a conference Monday, Nick Clegg, company policy chief, stated that Facebook would release two slide decks containing its research to Congress and the public within the next few days.
Facebook's documents that refer to children as valuable and untapped are contrary to its stated motives for launching a kids-centric platform. Facebook has claimed that children under 13 years old will likely try to join Facebook and Instagram regardless of their age while lying about it. According to the company, creating an app for children would protect them from being segregated online.
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A Senate subcommittee headed by Senator Richard Blumenthal will hold a hearing on Thursday at 10:30 AM ET to discuss the Facebook's internal research findings. Antigone Davis (Facebook's global head for safety) is expected to testify.
Blumenthal stated that this hearing will focus on the harmful effects of Instagram and Facebook on young people. It is also one of many that will pose tough questions about Big Tech companies' knowledge and if they are intentionally harming people.
