In a startling revelation, internal communications brought to light as part of an ongoing lawsuit against Meta, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.) allege that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally and repeatedly obstructed efforts to improve the well-being of teens on Facebook and Instagram. These documents made public as part of the lawsuit filed by Massachusetts last month, shed light on how Zuckerberg ignored or overruled senior executives who sought to protect the more than 30 million teens using Instagram in the United States. The disclosures emphasize Zuckerberg’s significant influence over the company’s decisions, impacting billions of users and revealing tensions within Meta’s leadership regarding user well-being.
Zuckerberg Rejects Beauty Filter Proposal
One of the most significant revelations from the internal communications is that Zuckerberg vetoed a 2019 proposal to turn off Instagram’s “beauty filters.” These filters digitally alter a user’s on-screen appearance and have been alleged to harm teens’ mental health by promoting unrealistic body image expectations. The unredacted version of the complaint filed by Massachusetts officials stated that despite broad support for the proposal, including Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s Head of Policy Karina Newton, Fidji Simo (Head of Facebook), and Margaret Gould Stewart (Meta’s Vice President of Product Design), Zuckerberg chose to reject it. Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth brought the matter to Zuckerberg’s attention, leading to the decision to keep the filters active.
Stewart, who initially pitched the idea to disable beauty filters, expressed concerns about the decision, worrying that it could have adverse consequences for the company’s reputation. In response to these revelations, Meta spokesman Andy Stone defended the company, stating that such image filters are commonly used in the industry and emphasized that Meta bans filters promoting cosmetic surgery, changes in skin colour, or extreme weight loss.
Pressure to Enhance Well-Being
About a year after the beauty filter decision, in August 2021, President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg pressed Zuckerberg to invest more in improving well-being across the company. Clegg cited a staff recommendation to address issues of addiction, self-harm, and bullying, which became a pressing concern as Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s allegations emerged, stating that Instagram knew its services could be harmful to teens. Mosseri also expressed doubts about well-being but claimed little progress had been made.
Zuckerberg remained silent on Clegg’s proposal, leading Clegg to reiterate his concerns to Zuckerberg in November. Through Meta’s chief financial officer, Susan Li, Zuckerberg responded that staffing was too constrained to fulfil the request. Li responded similarly when product executive David Ginsberg highlighted research suggesting the company’s services negatively impacted well-being and proposed investing in well-being tools.
Zuckerberg’s Data-Centric Approach
Zuckerberg’s rejection of opportunities to invest more heavily in well-being has been attributed to his data-centric approach to management. Arturo Bejar, a former Facebook engineering director and whistleblower, asserted that Zuckerberg required causal data to act on well-being issues, making it challenging to address concerns about filters’ impact on self-perception. Bejar emphasized that meeting Zuckerberg’s proof standards was nearly impossible.
Meta’s Response
In response to the newly unsealed communications, Meta spokesman Andy Stone mentioned that the company has a robust central team overseeing youth well-being efforts across the organization. Stone also highlighted that Meta offers 30 tools to support teens and families, including setting screen-time limits and removing like counts from posts. However, the lawsuit alleged that the experiment to remove like counts from posts was initially proposed as an app-wide default but was later downgraded to an opt-in feature that is rarely used.
Exploiting Adolescent Psychology
The lawsuit also accuses Meta of exploiting the psychology of adolescent brains and alleges that Zuckerberg personally set goals for the company to increase the amount of time users spend on Instagram. Internal presentations from 2020 were discussed in the complaint, illustrating how Instagram uses intermittent notifications about comments, follows, and other forms of attention-seeking to provide teens with a dopamine hit and a sense of approval and acceptance.
Tech Advocates Criticize Zuckerberg
Technology advocacy groups have sharply criticized Zuckerberg in light of the internal communications’ revelations. Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of the Tech Oversight Project, stated that these documents demonstrate Zuckerberg’s disregard for privacy and safety. Zamaan Qureshi, Co-Chair of Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition advocating for product changes and social media regulation, noted that even senior Meta executives faced barriers in addressing well-being concerns, despite having access to research.
