Two former employees of Meta have made serious allegations during sworn testimony before Congress, claiming that the company’s virtual reality (VR) products have exposed minors to inappropriate adult content, including nudity, sexual advances, and even live masturbation. Jason Sattizahn and Cayce Savage, who previously worked as researchers focused on the safety of underage users, asserted before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law that Meta ignored their research findings, suppressed further inquiries, and even deleted evidence relating to instances of sexual harassment involving minors.
Their statements contribute to an ongoing debate regarding how minors are treated on Meta’s various social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. This scrutiny has intensified due to earlier whistleblower accounts and investigative reports, prompting lawmakers, class action lawyers, and state attorneys general to demand reforms at Meta and seek compensation for those who feel harmed by the platform’s practices.
Sattizahn and Savage had extensive tenures at Meta, where they initially worked across multiple departments before concentrating on the welfare of children in the realm of virtual reality. Despite Meta’s significant financial investment—amounting to billions of dollars—into creating VR environments and the necessary hardware, both employees claimed that the company has not allocated adequate resources to ensure online safety for its younger users. “Meta is aware that children are being harmed in VR,” Savage stated during her testimony. She further described the alarming realities for minors in VR, including exposure to bullying, sexual solicitation, and adult content like gambling and violence, as well as participation in adult-themed experiences such as virtual strip clubs and pornography viewing with strangers.
Having departed from Meta in 2023, Savage expressed frustration over her inability to gauge the prevalence of these issues. “I wish I could tell you the percentage of children in VR experiencing these harms, but Meta would not allow me to conduct this research,” she lamented. Sattizahn added that he had observed adults using Meta’s VR products in sexually explicit ways, often within earshot of minors. “The audio that’s transmitted isn’t just solicitation,” he explained. “There will also be instances—where you can hear people sexually pleasuring themselves, transmitted over audio in a spatial sense, as you are being surrounded and brigaded and being harassed.” He also disclosed that he was terminated from Meta last year after voicing concerns about restrictions on his research.
Meta has responded to their testimony by disputing several claims, arguing that the assertions made are based on selectively released internal documents designed to create a misleading narrative. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone stated, “The claims at the heart of this hearing are nonsense,” and denied any accusations of internal censorship, asserting that there has never been a blanket prohibition against research involving young people. He further mentioned that since 2022, Meta has conducted numerous studies related to social issues affecting youth.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has positioned virtual reality as a fundamental part of Meta’s future, rebranding the company from Facebook to Meta in 2021 to reflect a commitment to the metaverse. Since acquiring Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion, Meta has invested heavily in developing VR technology. However, concerns remain regarding the safety of children using these platforms. Reports have surfaced documenting instances of sexual content, racism, and abuse that children may encounter within the metaverse.
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), enacted in 1998, restricts internet companies from collecting data on children under 13 years old. Despite this, Sattizahn and Savage pointed out that many minors under that age use Meta’s applications, and the company appears to be lax in enforcing age restrictions to maintain high user metrics. “Children drive profits,” Sattizahn remarked in an interview following the hearing, emphasizing that prioritizing safety could lead to decreased user engagement and revenue for Meta. He even advised his family against using Meta’s platforms, a stance he maintained while still employed there. Earlier reports by The Washington Post indicated that current and former Meta employees had collectively approached Congress this year with claims of corporate misconduct, presenting internal documents to support their assertions.
Sattizahn and Savage are among a series of whistleblowers from Meta and Facebook who have testified before Congress, voicing criticisms about the company’s practices. This includes notable figures like Frances Haugen, who revealed internal documents in 2021 regarding the mental health impacts on teenagers, and Sarah Wynn-Williams, who testified this year after publishing a book on Facebook’s internal culture and its implications for democracy.
During the hearing, Sattizahn criticized Meta’s reaction to previous allegations, asserting that the company’s focus has been on damage control rather than genuine reform. “Meta’s immediate response to congressional concern was not to do the right thing but rather roll out new processes and policies to manipulate control and erase data,” he alleged. He also recounted how, when his team discovered that underage users in Germany were being solicited for sexual acts, Meta pressured them to erase evidence of these dangers.
In response, Stone from Meta highlighted that privacy regulations in both the U.S. and Europe govern how the company manages data concerning younger users. He stressed that any data collected from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent must be deleted.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed growing frustration with Meta and Zuckerberg. “The two witnesses, Sattizahn and Savage, 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,” stated Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, chair of the subcommittee. Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, added that Meta has “blocked, manipulated, hid and deleted research” revealing that its VR products are frequently accessed by minors vulnerable to significant harm. Several senators voiced their intention to push for legislation aimed at holding tech companies accountable. Last year, the Senate passed two bills focused on child safety online, including one imposing a “duty of care” on internet firms, but these proposals stalled in the House due to concerns over free speech raised by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana. Senator Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, who is conducting a separate investigation into how teens utilize Meta’s AI chatbots, expressed the need for victims to have more accessible legal recourse against tech companies. “We need to open the courtroom doors and allow victims to have their day in court,” he declared.
In her testimony, Savage highlighted a significant gap in parental awareness regarding the potential dangers of virtual reality. “A lot of parents in my research indicated that they weren’t aware that their children were interacting with strangers,” she noted.
