Instagram Pressured By Senators Over Negative Impact On Youngsters

ABC News: Head Of Instagram Grilled By Senate Panel Over Impact On Young Users 
Lawmakers on Wednesday grilled Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, in a wide-ranging hearing on the potential harms of social media use for young people. The senators pledged that the age of "self-regulation" for Big Tech is over and bipartisan legislation to protect kids online is imminent. Mosseri claimed a lot of the issues raised by the lawmakers are not unique to Instagram but are an "industry-wide challenge" that requires "industry-wide solutions and industry-wide standards." (Thorbecke, 12/8)

CBS News: Instagram CEO Says It's "Critical" To Have Multi-Platform Youth Safety Rules 
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri told a Senate subcommittee investigating the harmful effects of the photo sharing app on teenagers that "keeping young people safe online is not just about one company" and called for industry-wide solutions. "With teens using multiple platforms, it is critical that we address youth online safety as an industry challenge and develop industry-wide solutions and standards," Mosseri told lawmakers. He called for age verification tools at the phone level and said the social media platforms need an industry body to determine how to verify the age of minors, how to design specific experiences, and what kind of parental controls are needed. (Bidar, 12/8)

The Washington Post: ‘Baby Steps’ Won’t Fix Instagram, Lawmakers Say In First Hearing With Social Network Head
Lawmakers were unimpressed with the proposals that Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, made Wednesday to address revelations about the social network’s potentially detrimental effects on children and teens during his first congressional testimony. With political pressure from both parties mounting against the photo-sharing company, Mosseri came armed for the hearing with a series of proposals to respond to criticism. He called for a new industry body to create standards for age verification, age-appropriate experience and online parental controls. The body would receive input from civil society and parents, and some of tech companies’ legal protections could be contingent on compliance with the board sets, he said. (Zakrzewski, Lima and Oremus, 12/8)

In related news about mental health —

Stat: Independent Gatekeepers Need To Regulate Mental Health Apps 
From individuals to employers, there’s growing interest in using digital services to help people work through mental health issues. It’s a solid approach, given how difficult and costly it can be to find and work with an in-person therapist. Yet digital therapeutics currently represent a kind of “Wild West.” Gatekeepers need to be more methodical in how they assess these products. (Johnson, 12/9)

USA Today: More Young Children Are Killing Themselves: The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Making The Problem Worse
Many people have long been aware that teenagers can be subject to suicidal thoughts and attempts, but such thinking is increasingly affecting young children. Child suicides grew by 15% a year between 2012 and 2017, according to a July study published on JAMA Network Open. At emergency rooms in 38 children's hospitals across the nation, the number of suicide and self-injury cases in the first three quarters of 2021 was 47% higher among 5- to 8-year-olds and 182% higher among 9- to 12-year-olds than they were for the same period in 2016, according to statistics compiled by the Children's Hospital Association. (Keveney, 12/8)

NPR: How Lockdown Drills Might Harm Students' Mental Health, According To An Expert
Community members and national onlookers are still reeling from last week's deadly shooting at a high school in Oxford, Mich., for which one student and his parents are facing charges. The tragedy is highlighting an ongoing debate about school shooter drills and the best way to prepare students for the worst, while considering their mental well-being. Oxford High School's most recent safety drill was in early October, according to its website. The school is one of many across the country that uses the ALICE Training Program, a controversial method that goes beyond traditional lockdowns and whose name stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate." (Treisman, 12/8)

Also —

Stat: Eating Disorder Researchers Say CDC Data Gap Has Left Them Flying Blind
Eating disorders among youth have been on the rise since the pandemic started — adolescent wards in hospitals were full of patients with severe cases, and inpatient clinics saw dramatic rises in admissions. But researchers looking to investigate national trends over time are at a loss. For almost a decade, federal public health officials have not collected nationally representative data on disordered eating habits among young people. (Gaffney, 12/9)