By India McCarty
Former Meta employees claim the company is not doing enough to protect kids online in their virtual reality spaces.
“I quickly became aware that it is not uncommon for children in VR to experience bullying, sexual assault, to be solicited for nude photographs and sexual acts by pedophiles, and to be regularly exposed to mature content like gambling and violence, and to participate in adult experiences like strip clubs and watching pornography with strangers,” Cayce Savage, one of the former employees, testified at a recent Senate hearing.
She explained that some predatory users even broadcast sexually explicit images and sound effects to minor users, saying, “Visually and auditorially, it feels real.”
Dr. Jason Sattizahn, a former employee who also testified at the Senate hearing, said, “When my colleagues’ research showed the emotional impact of children being threatened by physical harm by strangers online, Meta not only restricted internal sharing, but manipulated reports to obscure any emotional damage.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuqoiAuPO2I
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Meta has disputed Savage’s and Sattizhan’s testimony. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, “The claims at the heart of this hearing are nonsense; they’re based on selectively leaked internal documents that were picked specifically to craft a false narrative.”
Stone also denied the allegations of covered-up information, saying, “There was never any blanket prohibition on conducting research with young people.”
Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough is Enough, said the whistleblowers’ claims are warnings to parents: “You have to teach your children you cannot recognize a disguised predator.”
She shared her support of the Kids Online Safety Act, which “basically will hold these platforms accountable.”
This bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), would create a “duty of care” standard for social media companies — specifically Meta — requiring them to take steps to mitigate harm to children.
“Metaverse is a cesspool filled with pedophiles, exploiters, groomers, traffickers, and Meta knows it all,” Blumenthal said in a statement, with Blackburn adding, “Meta has knowingly, willfully, intentionally swung the door wide open on [and] exposed these children to social media harms when they are on their platform.”
Blumenthal also responded to critics who claim the bill supports censorship. He said it wasn’t a censorship bill, but a product design bill.
“If you buy a toaster and it blows up in your kitchen and mangles your hand and it’s defective, you have a right of action,” he explained. “Right now, the big tech companies have no responsibility legally for their defective products.”
While Meta claims they are taking steps to protect children online, the recent testimonies from these former employees indicate the company has a long way to go to make their platform safe.
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