Blumenthal Calls on Snapchat, TikTok & YouTube to Disclose Internal Information About Platforms' Effects on Children & Teens
The companies’ representatives committed to disclosing internal research, algorithms, and datasets about their platforms’ effects on young people during a Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing chaired by Blumenthal in October, Blumenthal pressed the companies to make information available to independent researchers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, called on Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube to make their internal research, algorithms, and datasets on the effects of the platforms on children and teens available to independent researchers, the public, and Congress. Blumenthal’s request follows pledges made to him by the companies’ representatives during last month’s Congressional hearing titled “Protecting Kids Online: Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.”
“Your representative agreed to provide me with your internal research on the mental health effects and addiction-like use of your platform by children and teens. Your representative also agreed to make your platform’s datasets and algorithms accessible for independent researchers to assess these risks,” wrote Blumenthal in a letter to Snap. Similar letters were sent to TikTok and YouTube. “Thank you for your commitment, as this transparency and access is critical to identifying possible harms to young users and preventing their devastating consequences. As the subcommittee works to draft protections for kids online, this information is also vital to our legislative efforts.”
Blumenthal emphasized the importance of ensuring external researchers have unobstructed access to the companies’ datasets and information about algorithms to be able to effectively study impacts on children and teens, stressing: “Researchers should be able to effectively study these profound risks without being undermined or blocked by opaque data practices, burdensome non-disclosure requirements, barriers to collecting information, legal threats, or an unwillingness to engage on the part of tech companies.”
Blumenthal pressed the companies for transparency around the disclosures of documents, including for specific information about any plans to withhold information, and current policies around access for independent researchers, emphasizing these researchers to be “any academic or civil society researcher who is not an employee of or subcontractor,” and requested responses by November 24, 2021.
The full text of the letter is available here.
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