Society
Meta Knew Instagram Harmed Teen Girls But Targeted Them Anyway, Psychologist Says
The Checkup with Doctor Mike
A Brutally Honest Conversation About Gen Z | Dr. Ali Mattu
What was said
"Meta knew the dangers of their product for those vulnerable people. They did the research themselves. They knew that certain groups of people, particularly these young girls, particularly around puberty, particularly around body image and comparisons, they were vulnerable for very, very negative things around eating disorders. They knew this and then they still sent emails about what's our growth strategy with this population."
Dr. Ali Mattu accused Meta of knowingly targeting teenage girls for growth despite internal research showing Instagram caused eating disorders and body image crises in this demographic. He compared Meta's behavior to tobacco companies advertising to children, arguing both industries prioritized profit over documented harms. This represents one of the strongest public accusations from a psychologist regarding Big Tech's ethics.
Verification status
Attributed speaker claim
Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.
Source and context
Egleze verified who said this and where. The underlying claim has not been independently established by Egleze.
- Programme
- The Checkup with Doctor Mike
- Episode
- A Brutally Honest Conversation About Gen Z | Dr. Ali Mattu
- Clip time
- 2:10:37
- Original source
- Watch the source segment →
From this episode
The Checkup with Doctor Mike