Meta suppressed children’s safety research, four whistleblowers claim

A group of whistleblowers, including two current and two former Meta employees, has presented documents to Congress, claiming that the tech giant suppressed vital research concerning children's safety. This revelation emerges from a report by The Washington Post, which highlights that Meta altered its research policies regarding sensitive subjects—such as politics, children, gender, race, and harassment—shortly after whistleblower Frances Haugen exposed internal documents revealing the harmful effects of Instagram on the mental health of teen girls. These disclosures, made public in 2021, have sparked extensive congressional hearings focused on child safety in the digital landscape, a pressing issue that continues to garner attention from governments worldwide. According to the whistleblowers, Meta proposed two methods to mitigate risks associated with sensitive research: involving legal teams in research communications to benefit from attorney-client privilege and providing vague descriptions of findings to avoid terms like "not compliant" or "illegal." Former Meta researcher Jason Sattizahn recounted a troubling incident where he was instructed to erase recordings of a teen interview discussing inappropriate advances made on Meta’s virtual reality platform, Horizon Worlds. A Meta spokesperson emphasized that global privacy laws mandate the deletion of any data collected from minors under 13 without verified parental consent. However, the whistleblowers argue that the documents they provided illustrate a pattern of discouragement among employees regarding discussions and investigations into the interactions of children under 13 with Meta’s social virtual reality applications. In a related lawsuit filed in February, Kelly Stonelake, a former Meta employee with 15 years at the company, echoed similar concerns. Stonelake, who was involved in launching Horizon Worlds to teenagers and international audiences, argued that the app lacked sufficient measures to prevent underage users and faced ongoing issues with racism. She claimed that during one test, Black avatars were subjected to racial slurs within an average of 34 seconds after entering the platform. Stonelake has also filed a separate lawsuit against Meta for alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination. While the whistleblowers primarily focus on Meta's virtual reality products, the company is facing scrutiny over its AI chatbots, with reports indicating that previous guidelines allowed these bots to engage in "romantic or sensual" conversations with minors.