Video of Adam Mosseri's testimony before a Senate Commerce subcommittee examining Instagram's negative effects on teen mental health

Instagram CEO testifies on impact of platform on young users before a Senate Commerce subcommittee.

C-SPAN.org 2021-12-09

Context & Ripple Effects

The hearing follows Mosseri’s earlier agreement to appear before the subcommittee and a prior session in which senators faulted a Facebook executive for not answering directly about Instagram’s effects on teens.

On the eve of the appearance, Mosseri outlined parental controls planned for March, including tools for monitoring time spent and bulk post deletion. The testimony puts those proposed safeguards and Instagram’s leadership before the same lawmakers who had already escalated their scrutiny.

First-order effects

Senate Commerce gains a public record of direct testimony from Instagram’s chief, rather than relying on answers from another Facebook representative.
Instagram’s forthcoming parental-control commitments become an immediate benchmark against which senators can assess the company’s response to concerns about young users.

Second-order effects

The subcommittee’s questioning raises the cost to Instagram of treating parental controls as a pre-hearing announcement: the company now faces follow-up scrutiny over the tools it said it would introduce.
The earlier frustration with Facebook’s testimony makes executive-level appearances a more consequential channel for Senate Commerce oversight of platform youth-safety practices.

Third-order effects

If hearings increasingly pair executive testimony with specific product commitments, child-safety oversight shifts toward measurable platform controls rather than general assurances about user well-being.
The episode fits a broader move toward parental-control features as an accountability mechanism for large consumer platforms facing legislative scrutiny of teen experiences.

The trend: Platform oversight is moving from broad hearings about teen harm toward executive accountability tied to concrete parental-control commitments.

Discussion

@georgia_wells Georgia Wells on x
I'm hearing a lot of confusion about Mosseri's statement about teens who consider suicide. So, here's the slide. The second-to-last item: Among teens who reported suicidal thoughts, 13% of British users and 6% of American users traced the desire to kill themselves to Instagram ht…
@abebrown716 Abe Brown on x
I enjoy the fact that Blackburn's staff set up the finsta on a desktop, ironic since Instagram (in its entire history) has never focused on its desktop version. https://twitter.com/...
@smwat Sara M. Watson on x
the media cycle shift toward crypto, web3, metaverse etc. increasingly feels like tech has architected a successful pivot to redirect attention on to the next thing, rather than dealing with what they've already built and broken
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Whoops. Senator Marsha Blackburn's staffers found a bug on the web-based Instagram account creation that improperly defaults a minor's account to public.
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
Lawmakers have a real opportunity here to grill @mosseri on algorithms. He used to lead Newsfeed and was head of products. This is his wheelhouse. He can talk about design and products.
@accountabletech @accountabletech on x
.@Surgeon_General's 53-page report recommends limiting kids' social media consumption to combat rising adolescent suicide attempts. While Mosseri tries to shift the blame to parents and praises Instagram's parental control settings, @DanSullivan_AK won't let him off the hook. htt…
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Senate is losing credibility as it holds the same social media hearing over and over without doing anything. Check out Meta stock today as Instagram head Adam Mosseri testifies. https://twitter.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
This is obviously a pretty big oversight but also fair to point out that quite possibly the only 15yo who would ever try to sign up for Instagram via the web would be a fake one created by an adult U.S. Senator https://twitter.com/...
@ethanz Ethan Zuckerman on x
Why solve the difficult problems of harassment, inauthentic speech, community governance, moderation, polarization, algorithmic amplification and transparency when you can build something shiny and new (that will almost certainly suffer from all these things and more!)? https://t…
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
this is a great microcosm of what's (imo) the one accidental takeaway from today's instagram hearing: lawmakers don't know a dang thing abt teen's online behavior, don't seem too concerned abt learning those things, but are convinced they know *exactly* how to fix things anyway h…
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
Sen. Klobuchar reminds Mosseri “You you better tell the truth, you're under oath” when asking him a Q about Instagram's efforts to retain and attract young users always a useful reminder for Meta execs!
@integrity_inst Integrity Institute on x
What Mosseri is pitching — drafting parents into being content moderators. What he isn't talking about — redesigning apps so that they don't incentivize obsession and bad behavior in the first place
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
It's time to pass a national consumer privacy bill, and kids-specific legislation to keep minors safe online.
@profcarroll David Carroll on x
Unless I missed it, Too bad Senate Committee didn't ask Mosseri about minors converting their accounts to business accounts to circumvent protections. This is on the radar in the EU but weirdly Congress hasn't noticed yet. https://techcrunch.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
you actually *sit down* with the kid and talk to them about what their issue is, and hopefully figure out why — and what the best way to solve it might be (tutoring? extra time? special classes?) but you only learn that by talking, right?
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Instagram continues to put profit over your child's well-being, and their hollow “updates” to their platform shows they are not ready to take safety seriously. https://twitter.com/...
@viacristiano Cristiano Lima on x
Sen. Blumenthal just told reporters on sidelines of hearing they plan to have more sessions on kids safety, including likely with other former Facebook employees. He also said they may seek more Meta testimony
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
These half-measures are not enough. Instagram must create tangible solutions to improve safety and data security. @SenBlumenthal https://twitter.com/...
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
They have no intention to stop targeting children. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
oh god it really comes full circle https://twitter.com/...
@zamaan_qureshi Zamaan Qureshi on x
Teens do it to get access to analytics: how many people view their profile, save certain images, impressions, etc. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Senator Cruz once again doing an outstanding job digging into Mosseri and research. Rightly tries to pin down Mosseri on: - raw data from Instagram research - powerpoint presentations memorializing the data Mosseri claims data is gone. Facebook, Inc. is an unethical cesspool. /3
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Going to bump up some Mosseri greatest hits during the hearing as he's long played an increasingly large role in taking shrapnel for Zuckerberg and Sandberg. https://twitter.com/...
@fboversight @fboversight on x
Trigger Warning⚠️: Self Harm This is awful. https://twitter.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
it might not even be the subject matter! maybe your kid is having issues with friends. maybe they just broke up. maybe they can't focus on math bc becky told them their haircut looked weird. again, you'd need to ask to know that
@jamiedupree Jamie Dupree on x
The head of Instagram now testifying before a Senate panel. He says Instagram can be a ‘positive force’ for kids - but acknowledges lawmakers have reservations about his company. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
these assumptions aren't made by talking to the teens at the center of this, they're made by talking to adults that are *adjacent* to the turmoil. and when lawmakers use their word as gospel, they're assuming teens would have any interest in....... being open with their parents
@georgia_wells Georgia Wells on x
“The middle of the night is when you drop news that you don't want people to see,” says senator @MarshaBlackburn She's referring to Facebook's decision to embargo this announcement for 3 a.m. ET https://www.wsj.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
In the end, Mosseri didn't commit to many specific requests: for research data, support for specific legislation (EARN IT act), whether he thinks victims should be able to sue Meta for sex-trafficking content. Details matter
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
Blumenthal calls it like it is on Meta's decision to put Instagram Kids on hold: “This pause looks more like a public relations tactic brought on by our hearings.”
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri testifying in front of a Senate Committee today. For the past four years, Google, Twitter, TikTok and others have largely ducked behind Facebook to take congressional heat now IG is pointing back at the other companies saying 'it's not just us'
@shiringhaffary Shirin Ghaffary on x
Mosseri says he supports giving people the option to have a chronological feed as opposed to algorithmically ranked
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
i'm not saying teens know how things should be fixed (they're teens after all)! but if a lawmaker wants to drum up proposals for How To Fix Online, they should consider........ what Online looks and feels like for the ppl being affected
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Sen Blumenthal closing with his AG experience then shifting to why we need competition - he's absolutely right. As many have heard me say, there is no defensible case Instagram and Facebook's blue apps wouldn't be better for the public if they had to compete with each other. /5
@senjohnthune Senator John Thune on x
Questioned the head of Instagram abt algorithm transparency for consumers. We know algorithms are meant to keep people on platforms longer, & a big part of that is pushing similar content over & over to keep users hooked - creating bubbles of information & deepening polarization.
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Big Tech companies have consumed too much power, and they are going to use it to censor you.
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
Mosseri: “Respectfully i don't believe that research suggests that our products are addictive” this is such a brazen claim given that anyone who's used Instagram intuitively knows that it is wildly addictive
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
like talk to a single teenager lmao come on
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
put another way: if you're a parent and your kid is struggling in math, you'd ideally want to sit down, figure out what pain points they have (multiplication or whatever), and go to their teacher w specific requests (hey, give my kid more time on your multiplication tests)
@cat_zakrzewski Cat Zakrzewski on x
This hearing is notably more focused than previous CEO appearances. Lawmakers are coming prepared with direct, well-researched questions. https://twitter.com/...
@counteringcrime Acco on x
“Meta is attempting to shift attention from their mistakes by rolling out parental guides, use timers and content-control features that consumers should have had all along,” said @MarshaBlackburn. “This is a hollow ‘product announcement.’ https://www.wsj.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
my issue with This Whole Thing isn't the callous way people have been discussing mental health. My issue is that lawmakers have turned teens with crappy mental health into political pawns in their quest to get their (usually shitty!) tech policy bills passed. it's gross.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Senator Blackburn closes strongly. Empathy has historically appeared to be a PR tactic for the top leadership of Facebook. When we've seen it, we've later learned it was a cover-up. /4
@fboversight @fboversight on x
@SenBlumenthal If Facebook saw danger to its revenue, it would act quickly, @SenBlumenthal says. Why has it not acted in the light of this research though? Nothing has changed since Antigone Davis, Head of Safety, spoke to committee months ago, he adds.
@senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x
LIVE: Head of Instagram, @mosseri, is before my subcommittee to answer for the platform's toxic impacts on kids. I look forward to discussing the urgently necessary & meaningful reforms & legislation to protect children online & hold Big Tech accountable. https://twitter.com/...
@drgurner Dr. Julie Gurner on x
@lizzywol Anytime government interfaces with tech, it's embarrassing (for government).
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
but like, what if that kid is struggling with their parent's divorce? what if it's the haircut thing? what if that mom's suggestions (which are naturally based on her own assumptions for what's best for her kids) just........ don't actually work for those kids?
@lizzywol Liz Wolfe on x
Are sitting U.S. senators (Marsha Blackburn) seriously asking the HEAD OF INSTAGRAM why they didn't use a “teaching moment” to tell JoJo Siwa to get offline? Maybe because they're not her goddamn parents, that's why, they're tech executives.
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
@mosseri @MarshaBlackburn Lawmakers get a lot of crap for not understanding tech but kind of wild that Sen. Blackburn's staffers apparently identified a bug that no one else had noticed(?!), including Instagram itself. Mosseri says the company is working to fix it now.
@telecomsense Jonathan Lee on x
Would also like to see someone ask @mosseri, why Instagram doesn't have a phone number for parents to get help/report abuse of children? Issue came up in last week's @House E&C Hearing on #Section230.
@lizzywol Liz Wolfe on x
These hearings are always the most embarrassing thing in the world. “Our kids aren't cash cows,” says Klobuchar. OK, cool, fair enough. So get your kids off the damn apps. Make parenting decisions!
@dseetharaman Deepa Seetharaman on x
Key point: 6% of American teens / 13% British teens *who report suicidal thoughts* traced those thoughts to IG, per one IG survey. Mosseri is saying that that translates to 1% of teens surveyed by IG. Two different ways to view the same finding. https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
One last clip for now. @SenMikeLee rightly asks a question about algorithmic amplification and recommendations. Mosseri answers with intentions and a metric on prevalence (5 of 10,000). /9 https://t.co/Z0EUNKjdyI
@integrity_inst Integrity Institute on x
Adam Mosseri is speaking now. Using the falling growth numbers as a defense to redirect the attention. Fucking amazing. I mean he's right. I'm just amused.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Sen Sullivan has locked in on problem here. US Surgeon General report recommending limits on social media usage by teens is directly at odds with Instagram's core biz model. Mosseri deflecting. As Sen Klobuchar pointed out earlier, if Instagram had competition it would matter. /2
@jmgrygiel @jmgrygiel on x
Mosseri says he's doing “all that he can” to protect teens on Instagram yet content that violates policy remains in plain view. You don't need to work at Pew or Harvard and have access to special data to see how little he's done. https://twitter.com/...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
what lawmakers are doing here is essentially hearing “hey mom, i'm struggling in multiplication” and just immediately calling the teacher involved, telling them that *they're* the problem, and giving guidance for what that teacher can do to make things right
@b_fung Brian Fung on x
Mosseri is up now, discussing his proposed industry self-regulatory body. Social media platforms, he says, “should have to earn some of their Section 230 protections” by following the best practices listed by that body. (Again, Blumenthal seems to view self-reg as a nonstarter.)
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
tw // like, with the instagram hearing today: i know that there's going to be lawmakers tactlessly talking abt teen eating disorders and suicide attempts, the same way they've been tactlessly talking abt them for months https://www.commerce.senate.gov/ ...
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
honest q for other reporters on here: when you've gone through some sort of traumatic experience—at any time in your life!—and that exact trauma dominates the news on your beat, how do you.... ... read/report on that objectively?
@fboversight @fboversight on x
@MarshaBlackburn says she is frustrated that this is the fourth time the committee is speaking to someone from @Meta. But that conversation seems to repeat itself ad nauseam. ‘Nothing changes!’
@fboversight @fboversight on x
@mosseri @SenBlumenthal has kicked off the hearing saying: Time for self-policing and self-regulation in tech is over. That depends on trust. And that trust is gone. Independent overseers, not chosen by big tech, is required.
@lauren_feiner Lauren Feiner on x
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri just entered the Senate Commerce hearing room for his first congressional testimony https://twitter.com/...
@b_fung Brian Fung on x
Instagram's announcement yesterday of Take a Break — a feature that reminds users to log off every once in a while — gets its own section in the testimony. But this part is really important: Take a Break requires users to opt-in; it's not on by default. https://twitter.com/...
@b_fung Brian Fung on x
Here's Mosseri's written testimony, where he highlights steps Instagram has taken to safeguard young users but also pushes back on how some of the company's research has been presented in public: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/ ...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
Will use this 🧵thread for @Mosseri hearing: Here's his written testimony https://t.co/nA8LVFRbvS https://t.co/WlLALtcbM4
@instagramcomms @instagramcomms on x
We want people to have meaningful control over their experience. We've been experimenting with Favorites, a way for you to decide whose posts you want to see higher up, and we're working on another option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order.
@instagramcomms @instagramcomms on x
We want to be clear that we're creating new options — providing people with more choices so they can decide what works best for them — not switching everyone back to a chronological feed. You can expect more on this early next year!
@mosseri Adam Mosseri on x
Had a chance to talk about this briefly today. It's important to me that people have meaningful control over their experience, and I believe a place where you can see everything from the accounts you follow in chronological order is an important thing. https://twitter.com/...
@_zeets Zito on x
We won the war https://twitter.com/...
@teh_islander Chris Bennett on x
Wait, they have been working on a feature that (checks notes) THEY REMOVED YEARS AGO? https://twitter.com/...
@johnbattelle John Battelle on x
Ummm if this takes you months to figure out you're clearly full of shit. https://www.engadget.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
@mosseri Adam, it would be great if you actually spent more time fixing the inherent issues that are causing damage to the mental health of teens than rolling out new features that keep people more hooked on the platform.
@mostafanageeb Mostafa Nageeb on x
Months to select from the database and order by created_at https://twitter.com/...
@schmoofy @schmoofy on x
maybe I'll start using Instagram again if this is real and happens https://twitter.com/...
@justinmaller Justin Maller on x
“After doing everything possible to alienate their users and marginalise artists and creators for the last five years, Instagram will take the radical step of listening to their customers feedback... next year.” https://twitter.com/...
@epro Emil Protalinski on x
Instagram claims it has been working on bringing back some sort of chronological feed “for months” but given that it once had such a feed, I suspect all the work is centered on minimizing damage to its bottom line (making sure users don't turn it on, how to best serve ads, etc.) …
@corinne_podger Corinne Podger on x
@mosseri Getting in early to say thank you, Adam. It'll be great to see things in the order in which they were posted. Definitely better for journalism. Less time spent trying to game the algorithm = more time for good reporting.
@parkour_lewis @parkour_lewis on x
We did it guys! Bullying works! https://twitter.com/...
@integrity_inst Integrity Institute on x
A true chronological feed would turn into spam spam spam What people should actually want: a chronological “core”, or kernel. Then with layers of integrity rules ontop of it. e.g. “downrank spammers” or “no two consecutive posts can from the same person”
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
abysmal segment on @MorningEdition where @NPRinskeep allowed both @SenBlumenthal and @MarshaBlackburn repeat blatantly false misinformation about Section 230 without any pushback and without mentioning the mass opposition to their bills from human rights & LGBTQ orgs. Shameful
@prflaw Peter Romer-Friedman on x
Instagram's head is testifying in Congress. He just said that Section 230 protections should be earned. I wonder if he knows that Mark Zuckerberg and @Meta are arguing in court right now that they have Section 230 immunity to lie to Congress about their business. https://twitter.…
@fightfortheftr @fightfortheftr on x
Congress must not further modify #Section230 without understanding the impact of SESTA/FOSTA. In Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen's words, Congress should “move forward with your eyes open to the consequences of reform.” https://www.yahoo.com/...
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
How can @NPRinskeep give a platform to @MarshaBlackburn (who cheers on anti-trans legislation, opposes marriage equality, believes queer people are abominations) as if she is just a good faith critic of Big Tech while ignoring LGBTQ ppl who are actual tech policy experts?
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
I have yet to hear a @MorningEdition segment on Big Tech that included a single voice from the international human rights / free expression community or the sex worker community or anyone with actual expertise in the impact of SESTA/FOSTA or how Section 230 actually works.
@quicktake Bloomberg Quicktake on x
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri suggests age verification for apps should be the responsibility of parents who give their children devices to access online platforms https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
This is always Facebook's strategy. @mosseri, like the rest of @meta, calls for outside regulation of their business, knowing full well that their lobbyists are fighting tooth and nail to curtail meaningful legislation, scuttling any regulatory action by the government. https://t…

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