US Lawmakers Press Big Tech for Internal Research on Kids' Mental Health

Four Republican U.S. lawmakers requested on Tuesday that Facebook Inc., Twitter, and Alphabet Inc.'s Google turn over any studies they have done on how their services affect children's mental health.

The request follows a joint hearing last week of two House Energy and Commerce subcommittees at which the companies' chief executives discussed their content moderation practices in the wake of the siege on the Capitol in January. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee's ranking Republican, asked the CEOs at the hearing whether their companies had conducted internal research concerning children's mental health. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said he believed the company had, while Twitter’s Jack Dorsey said he did not believe so. Google’s Sundar Pichai said the company consulted with outside experts and invested "a lot of time and effort in these areas."