Ashley Moody joins other AGs in backing Senate’s social media hearings

Attorney General Ashley Moody is speaking out in support of hearings in the U.S. Senate to investigate social media companies.

A tweet and media release surfaced Tuesday morning, while the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection asked questions of Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower.

In a statement from her office, Moody cited being a parent of a vulnerable child in expressing “serious concerns” about how Facebook is keeping people online longer.

“As a mother of a middle schooler, I don’t want social media companies targeting my son — enticing him to spend more time online; and, as Attorney General, I have serious concerns about the tactics and strategies Facebook is using to increase the length of time children and adolescents spend engaging with the platform. Inquiries like these Congressional hearings should provide the public with a better understanding of how and why our youth are being targeted by Big Tech,” Moody said.

The Attorney General also signed a National Association of Attorneys General letter with 51 other AGs from various states and territories, expressing practically universal support for a Facebook probe.

The AGs wrote that they were “incensed” by recent developments.

“As enforcers of our jurisdictions’ consumer protection laws, we find it deeply troubling that Facebook and other social media platforms seek to increase user engagement by conscripting our nation’s youth despite known harms to children and adolescents,” the letter reads, noting that the harm posed by social media extends far beyond Facebook.

“Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that Facebook is doing all of this knowing its own internal studies show the resulting harm — increased mental distress, bullying, contemplation of suicide, and other self-harm — on a significant number of children, with a particularly negative impact on young girls. And Facebook is not alone. WSJ also described how TikTok allows its algorithms to direct young users to pornographic websites depicting violence against women.”

“When our young people’s health becomes mere collateral damage of greater profits for social media companies, it is time for the government to intervene,” the AGs warn.

Moody and other Attorneys General have taken action against Facebook before, including filing a lawsuit in 2020 alleging antitrust violations from the online giant, citing its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp last decade.