U.S. senators are asking for answers after a report today by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook Inc. seemingly downplays the impact Instagram has on the mental health of the young.

Internal documents seen by the Journal show that Facebook knew that the immensely popular app is damaging for a large percentage of its teenage users, especially teenage girls. External researchers who presented their findings to Facebook found that 40% of teens in the U.S. and the U.K. felt “unattractive,” something in which the use of Instagram had a hand.

“Thirty-two percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse,” researchers told Facebook in 2020. They added, “Comparisons on Instagram can change how young women view and describe themselves.”

These discoveries were presented to the social media giant in a set of slides issued over a period of several months. Another such slide said, “We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls.” Yet another one stated that the app increases “anxiety and depression” in the young. More slides revealed how the app creates pressure to conform and compare, resulting in further mental health issues.

These findings won’t surprise many people. The negative effects of an app in which young folks are constantly in competition over their attractiveness or their economic status have been discussed for years, although the fact Facebook has kept these findings secret has prompted criticism of the company.

Today, Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn said they will look into the issue. They added that after contacting a “Facebook whistleblower,” they “will use every resource at our disposal to investigate what Facebook knew and when they knew it.”

“It is clear that Facebook is incapable of holding itself accountable,” the senators said in a statement. “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.”

Facebook produced a blog post right after the report emerged, stating that although it focused on a “limited set of findings,” it also demonstrated the company’s “commitment to understanding complex and difficult issues young people may struggle with.” The post suggested that social media isn’t inherently bad for young people, adding that research shows how connected it makes young folks feel. Facebook added that for some time it has been working on ways to make Instagram less harmful, hence the external research.

The question remains, though: Is Instagram inherently bad for the youth or adults on the basis of its fundamental qualities? The negative impact of social media on the public’s mental health has been in question for some time. Regardless of what information comes to light, it’s hardly likely such insanely profitable and addictive apps will just give up the ghost.

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