Senators Raise Concerns Over 'Finstas'

By Jeff Horwitz

Senators raised concerns about Facebook's apparent interest in encouraging teens' use of secondary Instagram accounts, colloquially known as "Finstas" (with the F standing for fake) as a way to increase usage in major markets already saturated with the company's products.

"They are actually devising marketing plans to help kids and teens-get this-create secondary or anonymous accounts that they can hide from their parents," Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) said.

The comments were a reference to internal Facebook research noting that the creation of secondary accounts increases the usage of the platform and the amount of content users share.

"Teens' growing use of secondary accounts and 'Finstas' suggest a strong market product fit for exploring different sides of themselves and interests," documents said.

Among the reasons young users might want secondary accounts would be to separate out their online lives from their parents, the documents said-a goal that senators argued was in conflict with the company's claims that it encouraged parental oversight.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2021 12:52 ET (16:52 GMT)

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