Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta allegedly suppressed internal research that revealed disturbing dangers to children using its virtual reality (VR) headsets and platforms, according to the Washington Post.
Documents recently submitted to Congress suggest that lawyers for Meta pressured researchers to downplay or even delete findings that suggested kids were being exposed to predators, harassment, and other risks inside the company’s VR world, the Post reported. Two whistleblowers who spoke to the outlet allege Meta’s legal team intentionally steered research to “establish plausible deniability” about the harms of its products.
One 2023 exchange shows a Meta lawyer advising a researcher to avoid collecting data proving children were using its VR devices, citing “regulatory concerns,” according to the outlet. Another memo urged researchers to reframe survey questions so participants wouldn’t share “sensitive” stories that carry publicity and legal risks.
In one instance in 2023, a mother allegedly told Meta researchers that she did not allow her kids to talk to strangers on VR headsets. Her teenage son corrected her, revealing that adults had repeatedly propositioned his younger brother, who was under 10. Researchers say their boss then ordered the comments erased from both recordings and written notes, the Post reported.
Jason Sattizahn, one of the researchers involved, said in an affidavit submitted to Congress that he was fired in April 2024 after clashing with Meta managers over restrictions on research. Another researcher who worked on VR studies quit the same year, citing ethical concerns.
They and two current employees provided thousands of internal memos, emails and presentations to lawmakers in May. Sattizahn and another former Meta employee are slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law on Tuesday, where they will allege that Meta buried child safety research.
The documents indicate that Meta employees had been alarmed about the number of underage kids using its Oculus VR headset, despite its packaging and terms of service stating that the product was meant only for people 13 and older, according to the Post. As far back as 2017, staff openly discussed the “child problem,” estimating that in some VR rooms, 80% to 90% of users were underage. Employees described seeing children as young as six chatting with adult men, asking where they lived.
In 2021, Meta product manager Frances Haugen released internal company studies showing the company knew its platform posed risks to children, sparking congressional scrutiny and hearings. Zuckerberg pushed back at the time, arguing the disclosures painted a “false picture” of the company.
Meta did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“The new allegations from these courageous whistleblowers would make any parent’s stomach churn,” Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee posted on X, reacting to the report.
“[W]e will expose the toxic culture at Meta that encourages deception and the heinous exploitation of kids,” Blackburn, who chairs the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, added.
Blackburn and other Republican members of the Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sept. 2, demanding answers after the company allegedly failed to provide an adequate response to an April letter on Meta’s “emotional targeting of children,” and repeated violations of child privacy laws.
Meta insisted that it takes child safety seriously and denied the whistleblower’s allegations, according to the Post.
Company spokeswoman Dani Lever told the outlet that the allegation of suppressed research is based on a few examples “stitched together to fit a predetermined and false narrative,” emphasizing that there has never been a blanket prohibition on research about people under 13.
“We stand by our research team’s excellent work and are dismayed by these mischaracterizations of the team’s efforts,” Lever said.
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