Hearings to examine whistleblower allegations that Meta buried child safety research.

Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law

2025-09-09

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This meeting focused on severe allegations against Meta regarding its handling of child safety, particularly within its virtual reality (VR) platforms, and the alleged suppression of internal research detailing these harms. Two former Meta researchers, Dr. Jason Satazan and Ms. Casey Savage, provided testimony detailing the company's alleged negligence and deliberate actions to obscure information about the dangers its products pose to children. The discussion emphasized the critical need for legislative action to hold tech platforms accountable, with strong bipartisan support for the Kids Online Safety Act.

Meta's Suppression of Child Safety Research

Meta allegedly possessed extensive knowledge of child safety issues but actively suppressed or manipulated internal research to avoid liability and protect its profits. After previous whistleblower disclosures, Meta's legal teams reportedly imposed strict controls on research, monitoring studies, altering reports, and demanding the deletion of sensitive data related to emotional and psychological harm. <citation data-start-id="1.30" data-end-id="1.36"></citation><citation data-start-id="2.20" data-end-id="2.21"></citation><citation data-start-id="28.2" data-end-id="28.11"></citation> Project Horton, a Meta-approved and funded initiative to better understand the age of VR users, was mysteriously canceled, which Ms. Savage indicated could only have been overruled by Mark Zuckerberg himself. <citation data-id="42.1"></citation><citation data-id="44.1"></citation><citation data-id="46.1"></citation> Dr. Satazan stated that legal teams explicitly told him this data was too risky for Meta to possess, preventing outside audits from discovering that Meta knew about these harms. <citation data-start-id="142.1" data-end-id="142.2"></citation>

Real and Psychological Harms to Children

Children using Meta's VR platforms are exposed to significant psychological and physical harm due to the immersive nature of the technology, which makes virtual experiences feel real. <citation data-start-id="1.18" data-end-id="1.24"></citation><citation data-start-id="15.8" data-end-id="15.12"></citation> Specific harms include sexual exploitation, bullying, solicitation for nude photographs and sexual acts, and exposure to mature content like gambling and violence. <citation data-start-id="1.16" data-end-id="1.17"></citation><citation data-id="2.10"></citation><citation data-start-id="13.21" data-end-id="13.23"></citation> Internal Meta documents from 2017 revealed concerns about having a "child problem," and one user review dubbed Meta's Horizon Worlds the "pedophile kingdom." <citation data-start-id="1.25" data-end-id="1.27"></citation><citation data-id="1.37"></citation><citation data-id="13.27"></citation> Additionally, Meta's AI chatbots were found to be allowed to engage in "romantic or sensual" conversations with children. <citation data-id="1.40"></citation><citation data-id="2.43"></citation>

Profit-Driven Negligence

Meta consistently prioritizes user engagement and profits over the safety of its users, especially children. <citation data-id="1.8"></citation><citation data-id="2.38"></citation><citation data-id="2.39"></citation> The company reportedly rejected simple safety investments to avoid decreasing engagement and ignored the pervasive presence of underage users on its VR platforms to maintain reported active user numbers for shareholders. <citation data-id="9.5"></citation><citation data-id="13.15"></citation> Social media platforms generated $11 billion in revenue from advertising directed at kids and teens in 2022. <citation data-start-id="2.40" data-end-id="2.41"></citation> Both whistleblowers asserted that Meta is "incapable of change" without external pressure, highlighting that bonuses were tied to user engagement, not safety protocols. <citation data-id="11.1"></citation><citation data-id="131.3"></citation><citation data-start-id="240.1" data-end-id="240.3"></citation>

Whistleblower Courage and Legislative Imperatives

The hearing recognized the immense bravery of both current and past whistleblowers, including Frances Haugen, for exposing Meta's practices. <citation data-id="1.6"></citation><citation data-id="1.44"></citation><citation data-id="2.6"></citation><citation data-id="2.14"></citation> Dr. Satazan described experiencing retaliation, including being fired six months after raising concerns about Meta's compliance with child online privacy laws. <citation data-start-id="4.19" data-end-id="4.23"></citation> There was a unanimous call for legislative action, specifically the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), to force platforms to design products that prevent and mitigate harm to children. <citation data-id="1.9"></citation><citation data-id="1.51"></citation><citation data-id="2.1"></citation><citation data-id="2.48"></citation> Senators also discussed strengthening whistleblower protections and reforming Section 230 to enable victims to sue tech companies, arguing that Meta will not change its behavior without legal and financial accountability. <citation data-id="6.11"></citation><citation data-id="2.52"></citation><citation data-id="89.3"></citation><citation data-id="229.10"></citation>

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was one of profound concern, outrage, and strong bipartisan condemnation of Meta's alleged practices. Speakers expressed shock at the whistleblowers' testimonies, describing them as "jaw-dropping." <citation data-id="130.6"></citation> There was a clear and unified resolve to push forward with legislation, driven by the personal stories of parents affected by social media harms. <citation data-id="1.46"></citation><citation data-id="1.47"></citation><citation data-id="1.49"></citation><citation data-id="6.4"></citation> Phrases like "heinous conduct" and "aggressively ambivalent to people" characterized the senators' views on Meta's approach to child safety. <citation data-id="1.43"></citation><citation data-id="205.1"></citation> The meeting conveyed a strong sense of urgency and determination to achieve accountability for Big Tech. <citation data-start-id="243.10" data-end-id="243.12"></citation>

Participants

Transcript

Senator Klobuchar is on her way, but I am going to go ahead and begin with my opening statement.  As you all are aware, we have a vote series that is taking place.   But I do want to say thank you so much for our witnesses being here and for each of you being here today.  We will hear from Dr. Jason Satazan and Ms.  Casey Savage.  They are two brave whistleblowers who have come forward to detail shocking allegations about Meta's cover-up of deeply disturbing   child safety research they were hired to purportedly make the platform safer for children but what they found was a company that knew their products were unsafe and they just did not care nearly four years ago i held my first hearing with the meta whistleblower who detailed how meta   exploits our children online simply to maximize user engagement and boost their profits since then we've seen a national movement of parents legislators whistleblowers and children that have said enough is enough our children are more precious than the interest of depraved   big tech CEOs, and that Congress must pass the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act.  After all these years, Meta continues to knowingly, knowingly allow sexual exploitation and harms to children on their platforms.  I'm incredibly grateful that individuals are still willing to come forward and shine a light on Meta's disturbing,   willful and intentional actions.  Mark Zuckerberg has promised that, and I'm quoting Kim, in the metaverse, you'll be able to do almost anything you can imagine, end quote.
And for once, Mr. Zuckerberg's statement rings true.  That is, for predators,   for pedophiles, for groomers, for traffickers, and all kinds of disgusting bad actors.  As these whistleblowers will explain, the metaverse has become the Wild West for criminals who prey on our children.  As our witnesses will tell us today, virtual reality can be incredible.   incredibly dangerous for children, specifically because of the immersive nature of the technology.  Children have a much harder time processing the difference between violence and abuse in the physical and virtual spaces.  In other words, when their avatar on Meta's virtual reality platform is raped or harassed,   Children experience that trauma as if it is actually happening to them.  Let's be clear, virtual reality is reality.  These harms are real, and this abuse happens every single day, every day on Meta's reality platforms.   One employee stated on an internal message board in 2017, and again, I quote, we have a child problem, and it's probably time to talk about it, end quote.  That was 2017.  One of their employees stating, we have a child problem.  But years later, Meta's C-suite   has zero interest in these findings.  According to these whistleblowers, meta executives decided they didn't want to see research detailing how harmful their products are to children.
So they unleash their attack dogs within meta-legal on the research teams, intent on creating a rosy picture of their products.  Meta-legal manipulated research methods and buried negative data.  Meta-instructed researchers to avoid asking teen survey participants   questions which might lead them to discuss harms they've experienced because of Meta's design.  And when their suppression didn't work, they just simply deleted the evidence.  They erased it so no one would know.   In one user review, Meta's Horizon Worlds was dubbed, and I quote, the pedophile kingdom.   End quote.  This makes clear what we have known for years, that Meta profits from the sexualization and abuse of children.  If you need another example, look at the recent report that Meta's own internal guidelines allowed AI chat bots to engage in sensual conversations with children.  Their refusal to protect children   and to instead profit at the expense of kids' safety, this is revolting.  It is heinous conduct.  Again, I want to thank the two whistleblowers that are here with us today and the other whistleblowers who have come forward who are not here.   I know that this was not an easy decision for either of you, but what you're doing brings us one step closer, one step closer to holding these big tech platforms accountable.  We have parents in the room today.
Parents all across the nation are speaking out and we thank you.  And to Maureen, Brian, Mia, Christine,   those parents that have lost their children to social media harms.  We're grateful that you're here and grateful for your passion to make sure that no parent ever has to experience the trauma that you have experienced.

Sign up for free to see the full transcript

Accounts help us prevent bots from abusing our site. Accounts are free and will allow you to access the full transcript.

Sign up