Zuck Not Doing Enough - Facebook Founder Vetoes Removal of Cosmetic Surgery Filters

The rise of social media has also resulted in an increase in concern over the safety of children who view videos on any number of online platforms including Instagram. Parents and many other adults are worried about the mental health and self-image of children and teens who are exposed to videos spotlighting plastic surgery procedures such as rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and even cosmetic procedures such as fillers. A recent news story revealed that the owner of Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg, ignored pleas from some of his top executives to address child safety concerns when it comes to the video sharing platform.

Mark Zuckerberg – Ignoring Instagram Safety for Children?

While Mark Zuckerberg is not the founder of Instagram, he did acquire the platform two years after its inception. As the leader of Meta, Instagram is a subsidiary of the company which makes him responsible for content safety. Zuckerberg was in the news recently as it was reported that he ignored the requests of top executives from Meta to address child safety concerns (according to a lawsuit that was filed by the attorney general of Massachusetts). The case was first filed in October, but it was updated in November without any redactions.

According to the filing, Nick Clegg, the president of global affairs for Meta, forwarded a request from Instagram’s wellbeing team in 2021. The request asked for an investment in staff members who would address the “currently underinvested” teen wellbeing areas of “problematic use, bullying+harassment, connections, [and Suicide and Sel-Injury (SSI)}.”

The suit also says that Clegg forwarded this request to Mark Zuckerberg. Clegg was supporting the request while also making sure to emphasize an “increasingly urgent” need to address “concerns about the impact of our products on young people’s mental health.” In addition, the message from Clegg to Zuckerberg added the concern that the current level of wellbeing work was “both understaffed and fragmented” (according to the complaint).

The suit also goes on to say that the request from Clegg was ignored for months by Zuckerberg even though the leadership of Meta spent time publicly advocating for the need to invest in wellbeing.

Safety of Teens – Meta Speaks Out

In a statement which was shared with the website, Insider, a spokesperson for Meta said, “As a result of Meta’s ongoing investment in the well-being of the people that use our services, teens, and their parents now have over 30 tools and resources, and we have protections to help keep teens safe and away from potentially harmful content or unwanted contact.” Meta added that it has a “robust central team overseeing youth well-being efforts across the company.”

When referencing the complaint about the efforts of the company when it comes to protecting younger users of Instagram, Meta said the complaint is “filled with selective quotes from handpicked documents” that do not provide the full context of their efforts. The 102-page court document also contains a claim that Mark Zuckerberg rejected efforts inside the company to prohibit cosmetic surgery filters that could possibly be used to alter or enhance the look of videos and photos posted by a person using the app.

Zuck Not Doing Enough – Timeline of Filters Discussion

Back in 2019, a Meta VP emailed the leadership of the company, including Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, and asked for support when it came to the changing the policies of the company to remove such filters. According to the suit, the request received unanimous support until Andrew Bosworth, the Chief Technology Officer of Meta, questioned if the filters actually “represent real harm.”

In 2020, a meeting was scheduled with Mark Zuckerberg about the filters. The scheduled meeting included a pre-read featuring twenty-one experts agreeing that the filters were detrimental to mental health. However, the lawsuit said the meeting was cancelled the day before it was supposed to take place. On the same day, it was reported that Mark Zuckerberg vetoed the proposal while also ordering the staff to “relax” and “lift” a temporary ban that was put in place even though a final decision on the ban was pending his approval.

Why did Mark Zuckerberg make the decision to veto the filters? The lawsuit said that his reasoning included the claim that there was not a “clear demand” for the filters. It was also said that Zuckerberg “claimed, falsely,” to have not viewed any data that suggested the filters were harmful.

Meta decided to have the last word on the topic of the need for filters on the app with the following statement from a Meta spokesperson to Insider. “While filters exist across every major social platform and smartphone camera, Meta bans those that directly promote cosmetic surgery, changes in skin color or extreme wright loss. We clearly note when a filter is being used and we work to proactively review effects against these rules before they go live.”

- MA