Three years ago, I wrote this piece about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s quest to dominate the virtual reality industry.

His desire to corner the market on VR headgear had been abundantly clear before then — after all, the name change from Facebook to Meta was a nod to the company’s intent to focus on building products for the “metaverse,” where virtual reality activities are hosted. And although Meta’s VR efforts have struggled at times over the years, the company’s push to be top dog has been obvious.

Nonetheless, it was stunning to hear Tuesday’s testimony by two Meta whistleblowers before a Senate subcommittee. The two former Meta researchers, Jason Sattizahn and Cayce Savage, allege that some of the company’s executives blocked them from thoroughly researching the impact of Meta’s VR headset on children as it pursued its goals.

“Meta is aware that children are being harmed in VR,” Savage testified at the hearing.

“I quickly became aware,” she said, “that it is not uncommon for children in VR to experience bullying, sexual assault, to be solicited for nude photographs and sexual acts by pedophiles, and to be regularly exposed to mature content like gambling and violence, and to participate in adult experiences like strip clubs and watching pornography with strangers.”

Savage, who said she left Meta in 2023, said she was stymied when she wanted to find out how common the problems were.

“I wish I could tell you the percentage of children in VR experiencing these harms, but...

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