[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6759-S6760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Social Media

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, by now we are all very familiar with 
the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the American people. If there is 
cause for encouragement coming from all of this, it is that our 
collective experience has helped to destigmatize mental health 
problems.
  The down side is that now we tend to look at everything through the 
lens of the pandemic. But the fact of the matter is that for millions 
of Americans, their private battles with mental health began well 
before March of 2020.
  It is from that perspective that I want to examine the Wall Street 
Journal's truly excellent ongoing investigation into Facebook's refusal 
to address the serious, and at times threatening, failings of their 
platforms.
  On September 14, the Journal published an article revealing that 
Facebook, Inc., executives know that their popular Instagram photo-
sharing program is toxic--toxic--especially for young women and girls.
  They know for a fact that 32 percent of teen girls said that, when 
they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel even worse.
  They knew that Instagram makes body image issues worse for one in 
three girls. They knew that teens blame Instagram for increases in the 
rate of anxiety and depression. How did they know all of this? Because 
they, Facebook, had done their own research.

  In 2019 and 2020, Facebook's in-house analysts performed a series of 
deep dives into teen use of Instagram that reveals that ``aspects of 
Instagram exacerbate each other to create a perfect storm.'' This is 
their awareness. That ``perfect storm'' that they mention manifests 
itself in the minds of teenagers in the form of intense social 
pressure, addiction, body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety, 
depression, and suicidal thoughts. This multibillion-dollar company is 
dragging their young users to Hell, and they are doing it on behalf of 
a fantasy.
  Much of the problem has to do with the fact that, by its very nature, 
Instagram forces its users to confront the unattainable. Facebook's 
researchers found that young users who spend their day scrolling past 
filtered faces and lavish lifestyles can spiral into a so-called 
``social comparison journey'' that mimics the grief cycle. Sixty-eight 
percent of teen girls and 40 percent of boys experience this when they 
use Instagram. This is their research--their research. Sixty-eight 
percent of teen girls and 40 percent of teen boys experience that grief 
cycle.
  Yes. Heartbreaking, infuriating, and guess what--it gets even worse. 
The internal research also shows that Facebook execs at the highest 
levels were in on the scheme to use these traumatized young users to 
pull members of their households into Instagram. Younger family members 
were of particular interest.
  This reporting is sunshine on a particularly disgusting aspect of 
Facebook's strategy to shape the world in their image.
  Facebook often touts their compliance with COPPA and other child 
protection standards as proof of their commitment to online safety. Oh, 
but if it were only so. But the Wall Street Journal reports show that 
Facebook has actual knowledge that they are collecting personal 
information online from kids under 13 years of age. These are children. 
They are suffering. But in the eyes of Facebook, they are the product. 
They are the product. They are the product that Facebook is using to 
get data so that they make more money. It is sickening.
  All of this and more was revealed to me and my staff by a very brave 
and well-informed whistleblower from within Facebook. I have been 
working closely with my colleague Senator Blumenthal to bring this 
information to light, and I thank him and his staff for being excellent 
advocates on behalf of young people and teenagers.
  On October 5, Senator Blumenthal--Chairman Blumenthal--and I will 
host a hearing in the Commerce Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and 
Data Security Subcommittee where the whistleblower will offer an 
insider account of Facebook's total lack of governance and the growth-
focused tunnel vision that has caused the company's leadership to 
ignore everything they know about the real world.
  At this point, I want to emphasize a few important points we can 
extrapolate from what we know thus far.
  Facebook's internal research revealed at the very least a strong 
correlation between use of their platforms and some forms of 
deteriorating mental health in kids and teens. But here is the larger 
issue: Even if Facebook didn't find proof of a causal link, it is 
unreasonable to assume that a company as large and successful as 
Facebook would ignore the social environment in which their young users 
live and scroll.
  If you accept this general assertion, which I hold is reasonable, 
then you must also accept that Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of 
Facebook's top executives were very well aware of the real-world 
context behind all of that research, and the context will make you 
sick.
  Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of high school students who 
experienced ``persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness'' 
increased by more than 10 percent. The percentage of high school 
students who seriously considered attempting suicide increased by 5 
percent. Numbers regarding suicide plans and suicide attempts also 
trended in the wrong direction. And even less severe mental health 
crises can lead to risky sexual behavior, drug use, truancy, 
delinquency.
  This is all no secret. It is publicly available information compiled 
by the CDC, accessible by anyone capable of executing a Google search.
  It is getting harder for our kids and grandkids to make it through 
the day. They haven't even had a chance to live yet, and already they 
are experiencing hopelessness and despair. They feel so terribly about 
themselves that they would rather die than live another day.
  Facebook has evidence that their platform facilitates these mental 
health spirals for young users. Yet they focused on how to trick them 
into thinking that scrolling through content that makes them miserable 
is somehow healthy and normal behavior.
  Our children are not all right, and I am willing to state for the 
record that the people pushing success buttons at Facebook--they really 
do not care.
  On September 21, the New York Times published an expose on the 
company's frankly shocking efforts to rehabilitate its image by 
promoting pro-Facebook content into user news feeds. By all accounts, 
this reporting backed the company into a corner. They were caught 
redhanded manipulating the flow of information, which is a charge that 
in other contexts has drawn fire from activists, politicians, and even 
Facebook itself.
  In response to the well-earned backlash that Facebook received, Mark 
Zuckerberg chose to avoid accountability and instead made a joke about 
an anecdote the Times reporters included regarding a video he had 
posted of himself cruising around on a glorified surfboard. That is the 
sort of reaction you see from a person who feels that they are 
invincible. When they feel like they are so rich and powerful and so 
totally in control of their own destiny that they are the master of the 
universe, that no one can touch them, that is what you get.
  In light of all we have seen in the past from this company and all 
that we have learned so far from the whistleblower, I think it is time 
to adjust Mr.

[[Page S6760]]

Zuckerberg's thinking. Accountability--yes, indeed. There is bipartisan 
agreement that it is time for accountability to come, and I sincerely 
hope that Mr. Zuckerberg and the rest of his Facebook colleagues are 
prepared for what is coming.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.