Propaganda of Violence and "Luring" Children: What Facebook Is Accused of and Why

The Wall Street Journal published a series of investigations, which became the reason for hearings.

On September 30, the US Senate Committee on Consumer Protection held hearings with the participation of Facebook head of security Antigone Davis, who answered questions and listened to criticism from senators of the Republican and Democratic parties. 

The reason for the hearings was a new article from a series of investigations by The Wall Street Journal: according to the publication, Facebook approved the development of a children's version of Instagram to compete with other popular platforms.

The company's research teams looked into how to attract a new audience, in particular children under 13. Although Facebook is well aware of the negative impact social networks have on children. Here is what you need to know about the latest scandal involving Facebook. 

First hearings

At the first session of the hearings on Facebook, one of the initiators of the investigation said that his assistants created an account on behalf of a 13-year-old girl and subscribed to several pages about extreme weight loss. Less than a day later, the social network allegedly began recommending more and more content promoting eating disorders and self-harm. 

Ed Markey
Senator from the Democratic Party

Instagram is the first children's cigarette that teenagers get hooked on from an early age. It exploits their desire for popularity among peers and forces them to put their health at risk. 

Antigone Davis argued that the investigators misinterpreted many internal Facebook documents, since in fact Instagram helps many teenagers overcome psychological problems. 

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that work on the children's app has been suspended: "I still believe it is a good idea to create a safe Instagram for teens. But we want to take a pause to talk with parents, researchers, experts and reach a unified position." 

On October 5, lawmakers will continue discussing the controversial aspects of social networks' activities. On the same day, an informant who provided senators with the company's internal data will testify. So far, his identity has not been disclosed. 

VIP users

Another claim against Facebook is that the social network allegedly keeps a secret list of VIP users to whom the usual algorithms for moderation do not apply. The social network allows these "elite" users to spread fakes, calls for violence, personal data and more. 

Another piece of evidence: Brazilian footballer Neymar posted in the social network correspondence with a woman who accused him of rape. He revealed her name and published nude photos. Publishing such content implies immediate removal, but due to Neymar's "special status" the post remained publicly accessible for more than a day. 

In May 2020, after mass unrest began over the killing of George Floyd, Donald Trump published a post saying "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." It remained publicly accessible thanks to the personal intervention of company head Mark Zuckerberg.

Another privilege of VIP users is that their content is analyzed by real employees, while posts from ordinary users are reviewed by automated systems. 

Other accusations

Facebook executives have repeatedly said that searching for new friends and communicating on interesting topics helps people cope with psychological difficulties. However, they are aware that in fact the social network has a negative impact on teenagers and makes them feel worse. 

The investigators claim that the social network's moderators are unable to control criminal activity among non-English-speaking users. Facebook has allegedly turned into a "virtual office" for criminal organizations. In various countries, from Estonia to Ethiopia, groups of radicals, nationalists and extremists use Facebook as a platform for inciting hatred. 

In addition, Facebook failed to cope with the flow of anti-vaccine activists, although Zuckerberg wanted to use the social network to promote coronavirus vaccination. The publication reports that the company knows about the scale of the spread of fakes and conspiracy theories, but management has not proposed effective measures to combat them. 

How Facebook responds

The social network's executives have not acknowledged any of the accusations made against it. The company's vice president for international affairs and communications said that the so-called "Facebook Files" are based on the false assumption that Facebook deliberately ignores the results of its own research. 

The company has not yet announced any reforms or provided updated guidelines. The authors of the investigation are confident that Facebook does not make sufficient use of the available data to ensure user safety and create a comfortable environment for them. 

Company representatives claim they are doing everything possible, but sometimes they simply cannot physically keep up with more than 2.5 billion accounts on their social networks. The problem is rapidly moving from the public sphere into the legal sphere: a few days after the WSJ materials were published, a federal court demanded that Facebook management disclose materials about removed posts calling for violence against the Rohingya (a people living in Myanmar).