The new direction comes as the company has been heavily criticized for how its platforms negatively affect the mental well-being of minors. According to the Associated Press, the features will include new controls for parents or guardians of teenagers to supervise what they see or do on Facebook. Facebook has yet to detail what the features will look like or how it will implement them. The company’s vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, appeared on multiple news shows to discuss the upcoming features. In those interviews, Clegg stated that Facebook is open to allowing regulators to access the platform’s algorithms to see how they work and how they amplify certain pieces of content. It was also revealed that Instagram will be adding a new “Take a Break” feature, which prompts teenagers to get off Instagram for a bit. These changes come in the aftermath of former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen’s testimony before Congress, where she criticized Facebook for its business practices and urged the government to step in. Haugen accused the company of failing to make changes to Instagram after internal research showed the harm it does to some teens’ mental well-being. According to her leaked data, some activity on the platforms generated peer pressure, leading to body image issues and even eating disorders in certain instances. Before this, Facebook paused its development of Instagram Kids, which was aimed at pre-teens, due to similar outcries.
