Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (2R) looks on as Facebook Global Head of Safety Director, Antigone Davis, testifies remotely before a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security to examine protecting children online, focusing on Facebook, Instagram, and mental health harms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 30, 2021.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (2R) looks on as Facebook Global Head of Safety Director, Antigone Davis, testifies remotely before a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security to examine protecting children online, focusing on Facebook, Instagram, and mental health harms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 30, 2021.
TOM BRENNER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
  • Facebook was exposed for minimizing the harm of Instagram on teenage users.
  • The term 'finsta' refers to a fake account on Instagram, an app that Facebook owns.
  • Blumenthal argues that Facebook chooses financial gain over the mental health of teenage users.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal correctly explained what a "finsta" account is at a Senate committee hearing, despite social media users circulating a clip of the meeting, which appeared to portray that he was unaware of the term.

The Senate hearing was prompted by allegations that Facebook was aware of Instagram's negative impact on teenage mental health. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, conducted its own research, which suggested that the app is detrimental to the health of female teen users, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In his line of questioning, the head of the Senate's Consumer Protection Subcommittee, focused on "finsta" accounts and the safety of minors on the platform, saying these accounts can deceive parents. "Finsta" stands for "fake Instagram." It refers to an account that may not be a user's main page and can be used to interact with a smaller or different group of people. The accounts are not just used by teens, but can be used by those who may have a public persona and then a smaller private account that reaches a selective group of followers.

"'Finstas' are kids' secret second accounts," Blumenthal said. "Finstas often are intended to avoid parents' oversight."

Blumenthal, who has been critical of Facebook since he was Connecticut's attorney gene real in 2007, however, asked a question that prompted social media users to mock him.

"Will you commit to ending 'finsta?'" Blumenthal asked Antigone Davis, the safety chief of Facebook. To which, she responded, "We don't actually do 'finsta,'" and then she explained the term.

And while, no, "finsta" is not a Facebook product that the company could just terminate, according to Blumenthal the company does have some skin in the game, saying at the hearing that Facebook refers to "finsta" accounts as "a unique value proposition" in several documents.

"You're monetizing kids' deceiving their parents," he said. "You make money from these secret accounts."

"We now know that Facebook routinely puts profits ahead of kids' online safety," he added. "We know it chooses the growth of its products ahead of the wellbeing of our children. And we now know that it is indefensibly delinquent in acting to protect them."

The New York Times, in its follow-up on the hearing, also explained that for some users Instagram has been encouraging second accounts for smaller groups of friends; and it does allow users to have more than one account associated with one email address.

Insider reached out to Facebook regarding Blumenthal's line of questioning and the prompts that some users have recieved to open second accounts.

Watch the full clip below:

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