Meta Put VR Profits Over Kids’ Safety, Former Researchers Tell US Congress

Two former Meta researchers told a U.S. Senate panel that the company prioritised profit from its VR platform over child safety.

Jason Sattizahn, a former VR safety researcher, and Cayce Savage, a former youth-focused researcher, alleged that Meta discouraged them from investigating the harms children faced in virtual reality.

Savage testified, “I was told not to investigate the kinds of harm children were experiencing in VR and made to feel I was risking my job if I pressed the matter.”

The researchers submitted thousands of internal documents indicating that Meta ignored safety warnings, including evidence dating back to 2017 that children under 13 were bypassing age restrictions.

The documents also revealed that parental controls for “tween” VR users were only introduced after a Federal Trade Commission probe.

Meta has denied the allegations, calling them “selectively leaked internal documents picked to craft a false narrative,” according to company spokeswoman Dani Lever.

The testimony has increased pressure on Meta, with Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) saying the whistleblower accounts show the urgency of passing the Kids Online Safety Act, which passed the Senate last year but failed in the House.