The moral panic over Instagram and girls

This week’s biggest social media panic that isn’t about Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s balls comes to us from the Wall Street Journal, in a bombshell report titled ‘The Facebook Files.’ According to WSJ reporters, a trove of internal documents from the secretive social media company reveals that, despite much protest (and congressional testimony) to the contrary, Facebook’s executives know better than anyone that their platform is a place of chaos and social destruction.

The multi-part series digs into everything from content moderation to curb ‘anger’ to Facebook’s efforts to promote the COVID-19 vaccine. But one section in particular has garnered attention for the picture it paints of a faceless, heartless corporation exploiting some of society’s most vulnerable members. The headline says it all: ‘Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Many Teen Girls, Company Documents Show.’

In short, Facebook has long been studying the impact of Instagram, which it bought in 2012 for $1 billion, on its teen users — and has found copious evidence suggesting that the app has a negative effect on their mental health.