In a significant development regarding the social media landscape, former Meta contractor Arturo Béjar testified before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, shedding light on concerns related to the impact of Facebook and Instagram on the mental health of teenagers. His testimony coincided with whistleblower Frances Haugen’s appearance before Congress in the fall of 2021, where she also highlighted the potential harms of these platforms on children.
Béjar, who served as an engineering director at Facebook from 2009 to 2015, sent a pivotal email to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2021, drawing attention to a substantial disconnect between the company’s approach to addressing harm and the real-life experiences of its users, particularly young people. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Béjar expressed his concerns, citing an incident involving his own 16-year-old daughter, who posted about cars on Instagram and received a derogatory comment. Despite being deeply upsetting to his daughter, this comment did not violate the platform’s policies, and the available tools for blocking or deleting content would only push the offender to other profiles, perpetuating misogynistic behavior.
During his Senate testimony, Béjar emphasized the need for Meta to revise its approach to policing its platforms, with a specific focus on tackling harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and other negative experiences, even when they don’t explicitly violate existing policies. For instance, the act of sending inappropriate messages to minors may not necessarily breach Instagram’s rules, but Béjar argued that teenagers should have a way to indicate their disapproval of such messages.
Béjar expressed his conviction that Meta’s executives were well aware of the harm experienced by teenagers but chose not to take effective measures to address these issues, raising doubts about the trustworthiness of these platforms for children.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, chair of the Senate Judiciary’s privacy and technology subcommittee, introduced Béjar as a widely respected industry engineer hired to prevent harm against children, whose recommendations had been overlooked. Senator Josh Hawley, the panel’s ranking Republican, underlined the importance of Béjar’s testimony for parents.
Béjar referred to user perception surveys showing that 13% of Instagram users aged 13-15 reported receiving unwanted sexual advances on the platform within the previous week.
He insisted that the reforms he proposed would not significantly impact Meta’s revenue or profits, as they are intended to protect teenagers rather than punish the companies. Béjar argued that allowing teenagers to have a say in the content they see and using their feedback to improve the platform is a straightforward solution.
Béjar’s testimony is taking place amid bipartisan efforts in Congress to establish regulations that safeguard children’s online experiences.
In response, Meta released a statement emphasizing its ongoing commitment to keeping young people safe online. The company pointed to features it has introduced, including anonymous notifications of potentially harmful content and comment warnings. It has also implemented over 30 tools to support teens and their families in having safe and positive online experiences.
Regarding material that doesn’t violate Instagram’s rules, Meta cited its 2021 “content distribution guidelines,” which reduce the distribution of problematic or low-quality content on users’ feeds, including misinformation, borderline hate speech, and explicit content. The company also introduced “kindness reminders” in 2022, encouraging users to maintain respectful communication, although it currently applies to message requests sent to creators rather than regular users.
This testimony comes on the heels of multiple U.S. states suing Meta for allegedly contributing to the youth mental health crisis and deliberately designing features on Instagram and Facebook that lead to addiction among children. These lawsuits, filed in state and federal courts, accuse Meta of knowingly harming young people through its platforms.
