Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, is set to testify in a Senate subcommittee hearing in early December about the platform's potentially harmful impact on younger users following months of scrutiny on the issue.
The testimony will mark Mosseri's first appearance before Congress. It also makes him the most high-profile executive from Meta, the social media company formerly known as Facebook, to agree to testify since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked hundreds of internal company documents. Some of those documents showed that the company's own researchers have found Instagram can damage young users' mental health and body image, and can exacerbate dangerous behaviors such as eating disorders.
"After bombshell reports about Instagram's toxic impacts, we want to hear straight from the company's leadership why it uses powerful algorithms that push poisonous content to children driving them down rabbit holes to dark places, and what it will do to make its platform safer," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security, said in a statement to CNN Business. Blumental previously called on Mosseri or Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify about Instagram's impact on kids.
Mosseri, a longtime Facebook exec who has headed Instagram since 2018, confirmed his plan to testify in a video posted to his Twitter account Wednesday. Mosseri said the company and lawmakers "have shared goals."
"We all want young people to be safe when they're online so I look forward to these conversations," he said, "and you're going to hear more from us about safety, not only at Instagram but at Meta more broadly."
In a statement to CNN Business, Meta spokeswoman Dani Lever said: "We continue to work with the committee to find a date for Adam [Mosseri] to testify on the important steps Instagram is taking."
The New York Times was first to report Mosseri had agreed to testify.
The announcement of the hearing comes amid regulatory pressure on Meta and Instagram. Last week, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general launched an investigation into the potential harms of Instagram for children and teens. (Meta has said allegations made by the attorneys general are false.) Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also sued Meta for allegedly misleading the public about its algorithm and the harms its apps can cause to users, a suit the company says is without merit.
The Wall Street Journal first reported in September on what the company's internal documents and research show about Instagram's impact on young people. The report said Facebook knew Instagram was "toxic" for teen girls. Meta has pushed back on the Journal's reporting, and said its apps do more good than harm.
In September, lawmakers held a hearing with Facebook's head of global safety, Antigone Davis, where lawmakers grilled her on Instagram's effects on kids. Although Davis said the company was "looking for ways to release more research" that she suggested might paint a different picture about the platform, she was criticized for not more firmly agreeing to release more internal information about the platform.
The company announced it was pausing plans to develop a version of Instagram designed for kids in late September, amid the fallout from the Journal report.
Instagram has also pointed to its other efforts to develop features to protect young people, including a "Take a Break" reminder, which was announced in October amid intense scrutiny. In his Twitter video Wednesday, Mosseri also discussed tools such as "hidden words," which gives users more control over what people can say in their direct messages and comments. He added that the company is also building controls for parents to limit how much time their kids spend on the app.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
A recent decision to restrict consular services for fighting-aged Ukrainian men has made a Ukrainian man in Canada feel less certain of his next steps — and worried he could be pulled back to the war.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.