Facebook Falls To A New Low, Profiteering Off Of Suicidal Teenagers

There have been a lot of questions with regards to how Facebook handles its data mining capabilities and then selling information to advertisers. However, the social network recently hit a new low when it revealed that it was selling information on depressed or insecure teenagers. It seems Facebook has been able to identify these users but instead of helping them, it has been making money off of their plight.

Depression and feelings of insecurity have long been associated with thoughts of suicide by psychologists, which early detection and treatment can address. With Facebook’s ability to find these troubled users, the social network could be of huge help. Unfortunately, it decided that it wanted to profit off of them instead, USA Today reports.

The news was first broken by an Australian newspaper called The Australian, wherein a 23-page document prepared by two executives at Facebook discussed how the company’s ability to detect teens going through emotional turmoil could help some of the biggest banks in the country. That’s right. Facebook considered how to help the banks instead of the teens.

It would appear that Facebook finds these users via the context of their status updates and the photos that they post. The social network can identify subjects as young as 14 years of age, according to the documents.

In its customary ways of responding to troublesome accusations, Facebook confirmed that the practice was going on but would not provide details as to what exactly is going to do about it, Gizmodo reports. In a statement, the company explained that the document was simply a way to showcase how users express emotions on the platform. Supposedly, it wasn’t meant to target the subjects for ads.

Regardless of what Facebook’s intentions were, it’s clear that the company is more interested in profit than the well-being of its users. It’s also clear that the social media site has no intentions to take responsibility for anything, even with matters as serious as suicidal teens or major government elections.