{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/technology/blackburn-grassley-hawley-demand-answers-on-meta-s-emotional-targeting-of-children-repeated-alleged-failures-to-comply-with-child-privacy-law", "Blackburn, Grassley, Hawley Demand Answers on Meta\u2019s Emotional Targeting of Children, Repeated Alleged Failures to Comply with Child Privacy Law", "2025-09-02", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are demanding answers from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg following new disclosures outlining the company\u2019s efforts to target teenagers based on their emotional state and Meta\u2019s reported failure to comply with the Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).\n\nSenator Blackburn has led the charge to pass the Kids Online Safety Act to stop Big Tech companies from exploiting children on their platforms. Recently Senator Blackburn demanded accountability from Meta over reports that the company is failing to protect underage users from sensual discussions with AI-powered digital chatbots. She also raised concerns about Meta\u2019s latest \u201cmap\u201d feature on Instagram, which allows underage users to share their location with traffickers and pedophiles.\n\nFacebook\u2019s Own Study Contradicts Claims It Doesn\u2019t Offer Tools to Target People Based on Their Emotional State\n\n\u201cChairman Grassley\u2019s office\u2026 obtained a draft PowerPoint that describes a 2014 study conducted by Facebook entitled Global Youth Study \u2013 Overview of Findings. In the study, Facebook analyzed the emotional behavior of 1,000 respondents aged 13 to 24 years old to determine how they respond to social media, whether they share branded material with peers, and what emotional triggers drive the spread of brand-based content. According to slide 170, the audience of the Global Youth Study is \u2018influencers, agencies, brands, sales, other industry, and customers.\u2019 This new information appears to contradict Facebook\u2019s 2017 statement that it \u2018does not offer tools to target people based on their emotional state.\u2019\u201d\n\nMeta Has Unlawfully Collected Data on Children and Exposed Them to Harm\n\n\u201cFurther, according to an April 10, 2025, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint filed against Meta, the company allegedly allowed children under the age of 13 to register with adult accounts for the Horizon Worlds VR platform and failed to take appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Specifically, the FTC complaint alleges that Meta has collected \u2018vast amounts of personal information from children under 13 without parental consent,\u2019 in violation of COPPA. Even more concerning, Meta allegedly chose to move forward with plans to expand the Horizon Worlds platform to children as young as 10 without instituting appropriate safety measures to ensure child accounts required parental consent for data collection. The complaint alleges that, as a result, Meta has unlawfully collected data on children and exposed children to \u201cracism, sexual harassment, bullying, and child endangerment.\u2019 If Meta disagrees with these publicly filed assertions, we welcome an explanation. Even more recent, on August 14, 2025, reports surfaced stating that Meta\u2019s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots \u2018engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.\u2019 Reports also indicate that \u2018Meta\u2019s AI chatbots flirt or engage in sexual roleplay with teenagers.\u2019\u201d\n\nClick here to read the full letter.\n\nRELATED\n\nBlackburn, Blumenthal Urge Meta to Shut Down Instagram Map Feature to Protect Kids from Pedophiles & Traffickers\n\nBlackburn, Blumenthal Demand Accountability from Meta Following Bombshell Report Detailing Latest Failures to Protect Minors from Harm", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T15:07:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/9/technology/blackburn-grassley-hawley-demand-answers-on-meta-s-emotional-targeting-of-children-repeated-alleged-failures-to-comply-with-child-privacy-law"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0437520686537027, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}