By Sheila Dang and Paresh Dave

(Reuters) – U.S. senators on Thursday grilled Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:) on its plans to better protect young users on its apps, drawing on leaked internal research that showed the social media giant was aware of how its Instagram app harmed the mental health of teens.

Following several Wall Street Journal stories that revealed how Facebook knew Instagram made some teens feel bad about their self-image, this hearing was held before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee. Facebook pulled plans to launch Instagram Kids for pre-teens this week after growing opposition.

Antigone, Facebook’s global chief of safety, questioned the findings of the committee’s research papers throughout the hearing and stated that the company was currently working to publish additional internal studies to increase transparency about its findings.

Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal stated that “this research is a bombshell”. It is compelling, captivating, riveting evidence to show that Facebook has known about the negative effects its website can have on children and has not revealed these facts or findings.

Senator Edward Markey from Massachusetts said that IG is for Instagram but also Insta-greed.

Davis was pressed by the senators to discuss several topics, such as what data Facebook stores on its users below 13 years old and whether the company considers young users a growth market. They also wanted to know if it knew that Instagram had led to suicide among some kids.

Davis reiterated the fact that children under 13 are not permitted to use Facebook. He also said 0.5% of the teens who participated in company research linked their suicide thoughts to Instagram. This is lower than what the Journal reported.

Ted Cruz from Texas said, “You have cherry-picked a part of the research you believe helps your spin now.” He demanded that Facebook release all its data on Instagram’s links to youth suicide.

On Tuesday, a Facebook whistleblower will be featured at a second hearing. On Sunday, the whistleblower will reveal their identity in an interview recorded for “60 Minutes,” which features a Facebook whistleblower. The preview describes her as a former employee of Facebook who left behind tens to thousands of pages worth of research.

Davis indicated Thursday that Facebook wouldn’t retaliate against a whistleblower who shared confidential documents to senators.