In a recent interview with the Verge, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed back on the idea that social media use harms the mental health of teenagers, despite growing evidence to the contrary.
In the interview, Zuckerberg claimed there is no direct link between teen social media use and mental health issues, claiming he was citing high-quality research.
However Zuckerberg’s claims are seemingly contradicted by Meta’s own internal research, with Meta’s research determining that social media platforms can have terrible mental health outcomes for young people, particularly young girls.
In his testimony to Congress back in January, Zuckerberg argued that the research has yet to show a definitive link between social media use by teenagers and negative mental health outcomes. Zuckerberg did acknowledge the complexity of the topic, saying: “The academic research shows something that I think, to me, fits more with what I’ve seen of how the platforms operate. But it’s counter to what a lot of people think, and I think that’s going to be a reckoning that we’ll have to have.”
Facing backlash over their effects on the mental health of younger users, and facing potential regulation, Meta’s Instagram did recently announce plans to transfer all teenage users into accounts with more privacy features, including limited notifications at nighttime, and restricted direct messaging.
However, Zuckerberg has reiterated his belief that app stores like Google and Apple, and not Meta, should be the ones responsible for ensuring proper age verification.
{Matzav.com}