In what turned out to be one of Facebook’s worst weeks in recent memory, we heard some fairly damning testimony from a whistleblower regarding how the company places profits over user safety. In the wake of testimony, now Facebook is planning some changes to Instagram.

This according to Facebook Global Affairs VP Nick Clegg, who spoke to Reuters confirming that Instagram would be getting a “take a break” feature.

Unfortunately, the VP was unable to give any further details on the proposed plan, with no timeline or indeed how the feature would be implemented.

Added to this is whether such a feature can be ignored, which if it can, would mean the “take a break” functionality does little to assist in limiting exposure to potentially harmful content.

“We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that the teenager is looking at the same content over and over again and it’s content which may not be conducive to their well-being, we will nudge them to look at other content,” Clegg explained in an televised interview with CNN over the weekend.

With whistleblower Frances Haugen’s comments on the company prior to the testimony noting that many of Facebook’s rhetoric on harmful content and misinformation often leads to nothing, this latest feature does not seem like it will come to fruition.

Hopefully though, if more pressure is placed on Facebook, it will implement measures to better handle harmful content and safeguard many of its younger users, as the company’s own internal studies have shown there is a major problem that needs addressing.

[Image – Photo by Adrian Swancar on Unsplash]