A former engineering director at Facebook Inc. told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee today how he was ignored when he aired his concerns to management about how the platforms he worked for could damage the well-being of children.
This is hardly the first time we’ve heard about how Facebook, now Meta Platforms Inc., prioritizes growth and profits over safety. It is, however, another insider coming out and saying it. That may at some point lead to the U.S. adopting legislation that will significantly curtail the amount of time young people can spend on social media and what they can do and see on various platforms.
A bipartisan bill of this nature has already been introduced: the “Kids Online Safety Act” or KOSA. In October, 42 U.S. attorneys announced that they were suing Meta for the harm they allege such platforms perpetrate on the young, citing evidence of bullying, depression, anxiety and self-harm. It might just happen that the U.S. will soon see dramatic changes to how kids use social media, although privacy advocates concerned about civil rights and censorship have said such a law will become a heavy burden.
The whistleblower, Arturo Bejar, was the former director of engineering for a Protect and Care group when the company was still Facebook. He told senators that his time at the company was spent within what he called a “see no evil, hear no evil” culture. He first worked there between 2009 and 2015 and again from 2019 to 2021.
Béjar’s main responsibility at the...
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