Instagram Head Draws Ire After Making Awkward Comparison Between Social Media And Car Accidents

Facebook Inc’s FB photo and video sharing app Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is under social media fire after he compared the value of social networks similar to that of cars.

What Happened: Mosseri’s comments comparing Instagram to cars was in response to Recode Media podcast host Peter Kafka’s question on a Wall Street Journal story that claimed the social media app can be of harm to its teenage users.

“Cars create way more value in the world than they destroyed. And I think social media is similar” Instagram boss @mosseri on WSJ piece re: IG research that suggests the app can be harmful to its teenage users.https://t.co/TAdYFdSOyC

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) September 16, 2021

Instagram’s boss drew an analogy with the automobile industry — which he said creates more value than it destroys despite the number of accidents every year — when asked if the social media service should be pulled or restricted if there’s a chance it could really harm people in the same way that cigarettes do.

“Anything that is going to be used at scale is going to have positive and negative outcomes. Cars have positive and negative outcomes,” Mosseri said.

The comments drew ire on Twitter, with one user drawing Mosseri’s attention to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation for cars and another shocked over the fact the executive’s belief that social media does more good than harm.

We also have regulations and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for cars. Maybe @mosseri should read Unsafe At Any Speed?

— Brian Boland 🔺 (@brianboland) September 16, 2021

Later, Mosseri engaged with various Twitter users and also tweeted to say way more than one data point is required to assess whether Instagram does more harm than good and there is no simple black and white answer. He added that headline culture is exhausting and social media has contributed to it.

To assess whether IG does more harm than good requires, by definition, way more than *one* data point. You want a simple black and white answer to a question that doesn’t have one.

— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) September 16, 2021

Why It Matters: A WSJ report earlier this week noted that Facebook has repeatedly found its Instagram app is harmful to a number of teenagers, especially girls.

See Also: Facebook Internally Acknowledges How Instagram Is Harming Teens While Discrediting Claims In Public

The report made U.S. lawmakers demand answers from Facebook about how its services impact the mental health of teens and children. Some lawmakers are also of the view the company should abandon its plans to launch a kids' version of Instagram.

Price Action: Facebook shares closed 0.23% lower at $373.06 on Thursday.