A Los Angeles city councilmember announced Tuesday a motion for the city to divest from Facebook, citing privacy concerns and negative impacts on user mental health, especially teens.
"Facebook was built to bring us closer together, but it is tearing our world apart," Councilmember Joe Buscaino, who is also running for L.A. mayor in 2022, said in a statement.
"Despite knowing that using their platform leads to deteriorating mental health in kids and teens, Facebook continues to focus their efforts on bringing pre-teens and teens to their platform," Buscaino said. "This is one of many reasons why the city of Los Angeles should divest itself from Facebook."
The motion was seconded by Council President Nury Martinez and councilmembers Monica Rodriguez, Gil Cedillo and Paul Koretz. It calls for L.A.'s three pension funds, along with any other city fund, to divest from Facebook, which also owns and operates the Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.
The move followed on the heels of testimony by Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, who told Congress Tuesday that the company was aware of problems it caused with regards to mental-health effects on teens.
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