Facebook to highlight own positive research on Instagram and teens

Facebook Inc, under criticism over internal data showing its Instagram app damaged the mental health of teenagers, plans to highlight during a U.S. Senate hearing on Thursday what it argues were more positive impacts, according to the company’s prepared testimony seen by Reuters.

Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Facebook, will detail the company’s previously announced efforts to better protect children and teens online, including defaulting users under the age of 16 to private accounts when they join Instagram, according to the testimony.

“Our research showed that many teens who are struggling say that Instagram helps them deal with many of the hard issues that are so common to being a teen,” Davis’s written testimony says.