Due to Meta's long-term delay in providing safety protections for underage users, U.S. senators collectively question Zuckerberg

IT House, February 6 — According to foreign media The Verge today, several U.S. senators jointly sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, questioning why Meta has delayed providing critical safety protections for users under 18 for so long. The letter cites court documents unsealed at the end of last year, which show that Meta may have underestimated or even ignored the potential harm to teenagers on its platforms in order to maintain user engagement.

Meta only began setting Instagram teen accounts to private and strengthening restrictions in September 2024, and a year later, extended similar measures to Facebook and Messenger. However, unredacted court materials reveal that Meta discussed setting all teen accounts to private as early as 2019, but ultimately abandoned the idea due to concerns that it would severely impact user engagement.

The senators in the letter request Zuckerberg to explain the specific reasons for the delay in implementing the default privacy setting for teens, and which teams made the related decisions. They also question whether Meta has ever halted or suppressed research findings related to user well-being and platform impact due to “unsatisfactory” research conclusions.

The senators express serious concern over the allegations, which suggest that Meta was aware of the risks but may have delayed product adjustments or even prevented external access to internal research results.

Additionally, the senators ask Meta to provide detailed information on its efforts to combat child sexual abuse content and related sex trafficking content. According to reports, court documents reveal that Meta’s former head of safety and well-being testified that some accounts are only suspended after accumulating 17 violations related to prostitution or solicitation. Meta is required to respond formally to all these issues by March 6.