Meta Faces Whistleblower Claims on Child Safety

Whistleblowers accuse Meta of hiding child safety risks as Congress investigates.

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Meta is facing another storm of controversy as whistleblowers accuse the company of hiding research about child safety issues in virtual reality spaces. Current and former employees have turned over thousands of documents to Congress, detailing how the company allegedly buried findings about predators and harmful encounters involving young users.

One of the most serious claims involves a researcher who was reportedly told to delete notes from an interview with a family in Germany. The family’s child had frequently met strangers in VR platforms, and a teenage boy said adults had propositioned his younger brother, who was under the age of ten. Although parents expressed concerns about grooming in Horizon Worlds, an internal report apparently left out the detail about the younger child’s experience. Meta, however, has denied wrongdoing and said nothing improper occurred during its research.

A company spokesperson argued that the accusations distort the truth. The statement explained that Meta has approved nearly 180 studies through its Reality Labs division since 2022, many of which focus on youth safety. According to the company, this research has already led to new protections, such as parental supervision tools, limits on unwanted contact, and default safety settings in Horizon Worlds. Meta said its teams have worked hard to safeguard young users and that the whistleblower accounts misrepresent their efforts.

Even so, lawmakers are paying attention. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hold a hearing titled “Hidden Harms: Examining Whistleblower Allegations that Meta Buried Child Safety Research.” The session, scheduled for Tuesday, is expected to probe whether the company placed business goals above children’s well-being.

The new wave of allegations adds to recent criticism of Meta’s artificial intelligence programs. Internal records revealed that company chatbots were allowed to engage in “sensual” conversations with children. The disclosure sparked outrage in Washington, with Senator Josh Hawley announcing an investigation into Meta’s AI practices. He accused the company of recklessly approving technology that could encourage sexual exchanges with kids as young as eight, calling it “sick” and demanding answers.

Meta has invested billions of dollars into its virtual reality division since rebranding from Facebook in 2021. After acquiring Oculus in 2014, the company has promoted VR as the next frontier of online interaction. Yet despite the heavy spending, consumer adoption has remained limited, and Reality Labs has accumulated estimated losses of $60 billion. These setbacks, coupled with growing scrutiny around safety and privacy, have put the company under mounting pressure from regulators, parents, and advocacy groups.

Legal troubles are also stacking up. A former head of security at WhatsApp recently filed a lawsuit in California claiming that Meta employees could access sensitive user data, including profile photos, locations, contact lists, and group memberships. While large corporations frequently face lawsuits, this case arrives at a time when the company is already under fire from multiple directions.

Altogether, the accusations and lawsuits paint the image of a tech giant racing ahead with its vision of the metaverse while struggling to address the fallout of safety and trust issues. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has long promoted virtual reality as a place for people to work, play, and connect. But whistleblowers argue that in pushing forward, the company was not transparent about serious risks facing children in those digital spaces.

The upcoming Senate hearing may mark a turning point in how lawmakers oversee both virtual reality and artificial intelligence. For now, Meta maintains that its research is sound, its safeguards are expanding, and that critics are cherry-picking examples to construct an unfair narrative. Whistleblowers counter that the problems are systemic and that Meta has failed to disclose the full scope of what its own teams have discovered.

Whether Congress sides with the company or demands tighter oversight remains to be seen. What is certain is that the debate over online child protection is only growing louder, and Meta’s handling of virtual reality and AI will continue to serve as a test case for how society balances innovation with accountability.

Sources:

Meta Whistleblowers Allege Company Buried Info on Child Safety

Meta whistleblowers raise child safety alarm

Former Meta researchers testify company buried child safety studies