On Friday, the social-media giant agreed to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on privacy next week, per Hill sources.
The panel is investigating Facebook’s privacy practices, and the social-media giant has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks over its European data-privacy scandal and the company’s response to the issue.
Specifically, the subcommittee plans to ask Instagram head Adam Mosseri for answers about its handling of user data, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.
This does not necessarily mean the subcommittee will call him before the committee, or that they will subpoena Mosseri. But since it’s clear Instagram has been under scrutiny, it’s probably in the company’s best interest to prepare its leader for a questioning in front of Congress.
The government isn’t the only place where Instagram is under scrutiny. At least one report recently raised the specter of the startup giving users the ability to delete their account in the future, but we’ve heard these claims before.
Additionally, House and Senate investigators last week formally requested information from Instagram, specifically how it handles its ownership of user data. That subcommittee also planned to hear from the company Tuesday on whether it cooperates with social-media companies.