Facebook under fire

Lawmakers are pressing Facebook over the potential negative impact of its products on teens after a bombshell report detailed the company’s internal research on the effect Instagram has on teens’ mental health.

Two senators are launching a bipartisan probe into Facebook, and a group of House Democrats doubled down on calls for the platform to abandon controversial plans to launch an Instagram for kids following the report published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

“It is clear that Facebook is incapable of holding itself accountable. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting reveals Facebook’s leadership to be focused on a growth-at-all-costs mindset that valued profits over the health and lives of children and teens,” Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in a joint statement.

Blumenthal and Blackburn, the top members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation’s consumer protection subcommittee, said they are in touch with a Facebook whistleblower and will use “every resource at our disposal to investigate what Facebook knew and when they knew it.”

The senators said they’ll seek further documents and pursue witness testimony.

“The Wall Street Journal’s blockbuster reporting may only be the tip of the iceberg,” they said.