Whistleblowers tell Congress Meta allegedly covered up how its VR products harmed children

Facebook owner Meta came under sharp scrutiny Tuesday as whistleblowers testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, accusing the company of covering up internal research showing children were being groomed, harassed, and assaulted inside its virtual reality platforms.

Both whistleblowers described a pattern of suppression, in a culture where researchers were monitored by lawyers, reports were edited or destroyed, and safety studies were sidelined in favor of boosting user engagement. Cayce Savage, who specialized in youth safety, said she was explicitly told not to study what kinds of harm children were experiencing, while Jason Sattizahn, a former Meta researcher, recalled being ordered to erase evidence of children in Germany being solicited fo