{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/bipartisan-senators-demand-documents-from-mark-zuckerberg-after-newly-unsealed-court-filing-alleges-meta-hid-evidence-of-harms-to-kids-from-congress-and-public-supporting-whistleblower-testimony", "Bipartisan Senators Demand Documents from Mark Zuckerberg After Newly Unsealed Court Filing Alleges Meta Hid Evidence of Harms to Kids from Congress & Public, Supporting Whistleblower Testimony", "2023-11-15", "2023", "2023-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", "blumenthal", "https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press", "scraper", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 A bipartisan group of Senators demanded Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg provide documents related to senior executives\u2019 knowledge of the mental and physical health harms associated with its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The Senators\u2019 letter follows last week\u2019s hearing with a new Facebook whistleblower and after a newly unsealed complaint filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General against Meta alleged Zuckerberg and other Meta executives knew firsthand the serious harms its products were causing to kids, but failed to act to remedy them and deliberately misled the public and Congress.\n\n\u201cMeta\u2019s representations to the public and in response to Congressional inquiries concealed and misrepresented its extensive knowledge about the threats to young people on its platforms,\u201d wrote U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Josh Hawley (R-MO), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law.\n\nLast Tuesday, former Facebook executive Arturo B\u00e9jar testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law about his efforts to inform Zuckerberg and other Meta executives about alarming internal research data on harmful experiences young people have on Instagram. \u201cRather than act on the stunning findings, Meta hid this information from the public and Congressional oversight while providing misleading statistics, ignoring recommendations to protect teens, and even rolling back safety tools,\u201d continued the Senators.\n\nNewly unredacted allegations in the lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General corroborate B\u00e9jar\u2019s testimony, suggesting the mental health risks of Facebook and Instagram were known widely within the company. \u201c[E]xecutives are alleged to have repeatedly made decisions to implement changes to a product that they knew would harm teens and shelved safeguards based on concerns about their impact on revenue,\u201d wrote the Senators, citing excerpts from the unsealed complaint in which Zuckerberg is alleged to have personally vetoed a new safety feature and the company\u2019s continued underinvestment in platform safety staff. \u201cIt now seems clear that the root of Meta\u2019s repeated failure to act to enhance the safety of its products starts at the top.\u201d\n\nThe Senators called on Zuckerberg to provide to Congress directly a number of documents related to safety, including communications with B\u00e9jar and other communications between senior executives cited in the Massachusetts suit.\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found here and below.\n\nNovember 14, 2023\n\nMark Zuckerberg\n\nFounder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer\n\nMeta Platforms, Inc.\n\n1 Hacker Way\n\nMenlo Park, CA 94025\n\nDear Mr. Zuckerberg:\n\nWe write seeking documents regarding Meta\u2019s research into, knowledge of, and response to the mental and physical health harms associated with its products, including Facebook and Instagram.\n\nMembers of Congress have repeatedly asked Meta for information on its awareness of threats to young people on its platforms and the measures that it has taken, only to be stonewalled and provided non-responsive or misleading information. For example, in response to a question about teen mental health at a March 2021 House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing, you testified that \u201coverall, the research that we have seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits and well-being benefits.\u201d[1] In a response to a letter sent in August 2021, when asked a direct question about whether \u201cFacebook\u2019s research ever found that its platforms and products can have a negative effect on children\u2019s and teens\u2019 mental health or well-being,\u201d[2] Facebook responded \u201cwe are not aware of a consensus among studies or experts about how much screen time is \u2018too much.\u2019\u201d[3]\n\nMeta\u2019s representations to the public and in response to Congressional inquiries concealed and misrepresented its extensive knowledge about the threats to young people on its platforms. Whistleblower documents provided to Congress in September 2021 directly contradicted your testimony, finding that a significant amount of teens on Facebook and Instagram \u201chave an addicts\u2019 narrative about their use,\u201d \u201chave only \u2018a little control\u2019 or \u2018no control at all\u2019 over how Instagram makes them feel,\u201d and attribute to it suicidal ideation and body image concerns.[4] Despite these documented disclosures, Meta executives continued to downplay possible harms to young people in Senate hearings and inquiries.\n\nWe are troubled by recent disclosures that shed further light on Meta\u2019s knowledge of the harms its products cause teens and its unwillingness to take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate these harms. Last Tuesday, former Facebook executive Arturo B\u00e9jar testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law about his efforts to inform you and other senior executives at Meta of the dangerous and harmful experiences of teenagers on Instagram based on data collected by its internal researchers. As a result of Mr. B\u00e9jar\u2019s efforts, Meta executives \u2014 including you, Sheryl Sandberg, Meta CTO Chris Cox, and Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri \u2014 knew that over half of Instagram users report having one bad or harmful experience each week, including a quarter of young teens reporting having received unwanted sexual advances. Rather than act on these stunning findings, Meta hid this information from the public and Congressional oversight while providing misleading statistics, ignoring recommendations to protect teens, and even rolling back safety tools.\n\nMr. B\u00e9jar\u2019s testimony and documents were corroborated by newly unsealed allegations in a lawsuit filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General. According to the complaint, the mental health risks of Facebook and Instagram were well-known within Meta. However, executives are alleged to have repeatedly made decisions to implement changes to a product that they knew would harm teens and shelved safeguards based on concerns about their impact on revenue. In one exchange, you are alleged to have personally vetoed a proposal to \u201cdisallow effects that mimic plastic surgery\u201d that had significant support from Meta\u2019s senior management and outside experts, despite a clear warning from Instagram\u2019s Head of Policy that Meta would be \u201cactively encouraging young girls into body dysmorphia.\u201d[5] Additionally, while executives themselves acknowledged \u201cwellbeing work is both understaffed and fragmented,\u201d \u201ccurrently underinvested,\u201d and that Meta had been talking \u201cabout this for a long time but ha[d] made little progress,\u201d[6] proposals to fund wellbeing work were denied, and safety staff has been subsequently cut from Meta. It now seems clear that the root of Meta\u2019s repeated failure to act to enhance the safety of its products starts at the top.\n\nGiven Meta\u2019s apparent willful disregard for, and profiting from threats to, the safety and wellbeing of young people, as well as its misrepresentations to Congress, we write to request the following documents concerning your and other senior executives\u2019 consideration of the requests for additional safety investments and tools detailed in Mr. B\u00e9jar\u2019s testimony and in the complaint filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General. Please provide the following documents no later than November 30, 2023.\n\nAll communications related to Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s October 5, 2021 email to Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Chris Cox, and Adam Mosseri, including:\n\nAll responses to and forwards of Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email;\n\nAll communication between executives regarding Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email; and\n\nAll communication between executives and other Meta personnel regarding Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email.\n\nAll communications related to Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s October 14, 2021, email to Adam Mosseri, including:\n\nAll responses to and forwards of Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email;\n\nAll communication between Meta executives regarding Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email; and\n\nAll communication between executives and other Meta personnel regarding Arturo B\u00e9jar\u2019s email.\n\nAll correspondence related to David Ginsberg\u2019s April 2019 email to Mark Zuckerberg recommending investments to fund additional engineering staff focused on building well-being tools, including:\n\nMr. Ginsburg\u2019s email to Mark Zuckerberg and Susan Li\u2019s response referenced in paragraph 181 of the Massachusetts Attorney General\u2019s complaint;\n\nAll communication between executives regarding Mr. Ginsburg\u2019s email; and\n\nAll communication between Meta executives and other Meta personnel regarding Mr. Ginsburg\u2019s email.\n\nAll correspondence related to the August 2021 outreach from members of Instagram\u2019s Well-Being Team to Nick Clegg and Chris Norton, recommending additional investment and staffing to address \u201c\u2018currently underinvested\u2019 teen well-being areas,\u201d as cited in paragraphs 181-193 of the Massachusetts Attorney General\u2019s complaint, including:\n\nThe Well-Being Team\u2019s initial outreach to Mr. Norton and Mr. Clegg;\n\nMr. Clegg\u2019s forwarding of messages from the Well-Being Team to Mark Zuckerberg and Mr. Clegg\u2019s November 2021 follow-up email to Mr. Zuckerberg;\n\nAll correspondence involving Mr. Zuckerberg and Meta CFO Susan Li concerning the outreach from the Well-Being team;\n\nAll correspondence between Pratiti Raychoudhury, Adam Mosseri, Emily Dalton Smith and Kang-Xing Jin concerning the request; and\n\nAll other correspondence between Meta executives regarding the Well-Being team\u2019s request.\n\nAny documents, memoranda, analyses, or presentations prepared by or for, or shared with, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Chris Cox, Adam Mosseri, Nick Clegg, and Chris Norton concerning the emails and outreach referenced in questions 1 through 4.\n\nA list of any meetings convened to discuss the emails and outreach referenced in questions 1 through 4, specifying when the meetings took place and who attended, along with a copy of any agendas, summaries, or minutes of those meetings.\n\nWe look forward to your prompt response.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/bipartisan-senators-demand-documents-from-mark-zuckerberg-after-newly-unsealed-court-filing-alleges-meta-hid-evidence-of-harms-to-kids-from-congress-and-public-supporting-whistleblower-testimony"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.794137991964817, "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"}