Facebook Launches Probe Into Corporate Advertising Targeting Teenagers

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, the Australian newspaper reported that a 23-page corporate document of the Facebook’s office in Australia contained information that the social network was gathering information on young users (from the age of 14) in order to determine when they feel "stressed," "nervous," "useless" for commercial purposes, the document read.

"We have opened an investigation to understand the process failure and improve our oversight. We will undertake disciplinary and other processes as appropriate," the Facebook’s spokeswoman said in a statement, as quoted by the Australian newspaper.

The document was prepared by David Fernandez and Andy Sinn, the top executives of the Facebook’s Australian office, according to the newspaper.

"While the data on which this research is based was aggregated and presented consistent with applicable privacy and legal protections, including the removal of any personally identifiable information, our internal process sets a standard higher than required by law … This research does not appear to have followed this process," Facebook’s statement read.

The document allegedly violates the Australian Code for Advertising & Marketing Communications to Children guidelines as such corporate tactics are socially irresponsible, according to the newspaper.

On Thursday, Facebook announced that it has expanded its security focus in order to detect attempts by governments to distort domestic or foreign political sentiment.

According to the social media giant, its platform had been used to control and manipulate public discourse by stealing and leaking personal data, seeding stories to journalists via fake online personas and coordinating action by inauthentic accounts to amplify certain narratives.