Meta Platforms put profit ahead of protecting children on its virtual reality platform, two former company researchers told a Senate subcommittee Tuesday, accusing the social media giant of suppressing evidence of risks to young users, the New York Post reported.
Former Meta user experience researcher Cayce Savage testified that internal research revealed children were using the company’s VR products and being exposed to sexually explicit material, but Meta shut down the findings.
“Meta cannot be trusted to tell the truth about the safety or use of its products,” Savage told the Senate panel on privacy and technology.
The hearing comes as Meta faces increasing scrutiny from lawmakers after reports that the company allowed chatbots to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,” according to an internal policy document.
Meta later said the examples violated its rules and were removed.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked former Meta Reality Labs researcher Jason Sattizahn about the report.
“Does it surprise you that they would allow their chatbot to engage in these conversations with children?” Blackburn asked.
“No, not at all,” Sattizahn replied.
Savage and Sattizahn are among several current and former employees who raised alarms on this issue in whistleblower complaints.
According to Savage, researchers were discouraged from studying the risks children faced in VR, which allowed the company to claim ignorance. She said her work uncovered cases of bullying, sexual assault, and demands for nude images targeting minors.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone disputed the allegations, saying in a statement that they were “based on selectively leaked internal documents that were picked specifically to craft a false narrative.”
He added that “there was never any blanket prohibition on conducting research with young people.”
Lawmakers signaled that the testimony adds urgency to advancing child safety legislation. Blackburn said the whistleblower accounts strengthen the case for the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill she co-sponsored. The measure passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House.
The clash is part of a fight in Washington over how much responsibility technology companies have for online harms to children. President Donald Trump has urged Congress to take a tougher stance on Big Tech, but Democrats and Republicans remain divided on how far regulation should go.
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