Editor. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
This Tuesday, four Republican lawmakers asked Facebook, Twitter and Google to hand over any studies they have conducted on how their services affect children's mental health.
The above, following a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing held last week, in which top company executives discussed their content moderation practices in the wake of the siege of the Capitol in January.
This was reported by Reuters news agency, which added that Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee's ranking Republican, asked the CEOs of the technology companies at the hearing whether their firms had conducted internal research on children's mental health.
In turn, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believed the company had conducted such research, while Twitter's Jack Dorsey said no such studies were available.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company consulted with external experts and invested "a lot of time and effort in these areas".
Reuters said that in the letters sent to the companies on March 30, McMorris Rodgers requested copies of any relevant internal investigations or communications, as well as information on any contractors and partners involved.
In addition, he said, the lawmakers requested any research the companies have conducted on how competing products affect the mental well-being of children under 18.
Applications include Google's YouTube Kids services and Facebook's Instagram, which is developing a version for under-13s.
The letter also signed by Republicans Robert Latta, Gus Bilirakis and Morgan Griffith requests that the tech giants respond to the petition and request for information, by April 16.
