Facebook launches mental health resources after criticism about platform's effects on kids

Washington [US], October 7 (ANI/Sputnik): Facebook announced on Thursday that it is launching new mental health resources, tools and programming across all its apps, after being criticized by a former employee in the US Congress of the social media platform's negative effects on children.
"For World Mental Health Day on October 10, we're launching new mental health resources, tools and programming across our apps. We're working with mental health experts and organizations around the world to connect people with the support they need, and we're launching new content and tools to encourage people to start conversations about mental health," Facebook said.
The company explained that it has joined forces with numerous mental health experts to introduce new tools in its Emotional Health resource centre, including resource cards on tips for positive mental health and guides to mental health support for various communities such as Black, Asian, Latino and others.
With the help of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, UNICEF has launched a new Global Mental Health chatbot that offers tips for communicating as well as introduced new suicide prevention tools.
On Tuesday, former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen told a congressional testimony that the social media network was allegedly aware it inflicted harm on the mental health of teenagers but did not do much to prevent content promoting "hate and division," as well as content that created a toxic environment for teenage girls. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied Haugen's allegations. (ANI/Sputnik)