Facebook does not have a monopoly on the anger of elected officials. The spotlight on Tuesday shifted to TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, also accused of harming the mental and physical health of children by overexposing them to the seemingly ideal lives of other people, as well as inappropriate images and ads.
Representatives of these three platforms, ultra-popular with young people, tried to prove to American senators that they were doing better than Facebook on these subjects, without convincing. “Being different from Facebook is no defense,” Democrat Richard Blumenthal said. “We want a race to the top, not to the bottom.”
The audience above all
This hearing comes a few weeks after that, before the same trade committee, of the whistleblower Frances Haugen. According to documents it released, Facebook knows that Instagram can harm the mental health of young people. For elected officials, the race to hear is the main driver of the excesses. “More pairs of eyes means more dollars. Everything you do is to add users, especially children, and keep them on your applications, ”said Richard Blumenthal.
The senator relayed the accounts of parents unarmed by the experience of their children on the networks, such as this mother whose daughter was “inundated with videos on suicide, self-harm and anorexia because she was depressed. and was looking for content on these topics ”. Its peers also questioned the choices of platforms in terms of minimum age, content moderation methods (human and / or algorithms) and privacy protection.
Snapchat poses as an outsider
Representatives defended themselves with flattering comparisons and measures already in place. “Snapchat was built as an antidote to social media,” said Jennifer Stout, a vice president of the Snap group. Snapchat, frequented by 500 million monthly users, has set 13 years the minimum age to register on the network.
The application stands out from the others by being much less open to outside content. The (young) users mainly communicate with each other and have access, on a “discovery” thread, to videos and texts from media, sports clubs, brands, etc.
TikTok and YouTube offer versions adapted for the youngest, with specific devices. The version of TikTok for those under 13 does not allow posting of videos or commenting on videos posted by others. For 13-16 year olds, the social network prohibits live broadcasts (livestream) and associates, by default, with these young users a private account, which means that it can only be consulted by persons authorized by the holder. Account.
“Not finished hearing us”
“We have found that people who suffer from eating disorders come to TikTok to talk about it in a positive way,” assured Michael Beckerman, the public affairs manager of the Chinese subsidiary ByteDance, of which a separate version exists. in China (under the name of Douyin).
The platform announced at the end of September that it had exceeded one billion active monthly users, far behind YouTube and its 2.3 billion users who connect at least once a month (in 2020). Google’s video service, for its part, has put forward its efforts to remove the millions of content that violates its regulations.
“Social media can provide entertainment and educational opportunities,” the commission acknowledged, presenting the hearing, “but these apps have also been misused to prey on children and promote destructive acts, such as vandalism. school, viral challenges that risk death, harassment, eating disorders, (…) and the embezzlement of minors. “
Many elected officials want to legislate to include in the texts more safeguards to protect minors. “You are not done hearing us,” concluded Richard Blumenthal.