A second whistleblower from Meta, Arturo Bejar, appeared before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, shedding light on his fruitless attempts to address the harmful effects of Meta's platforms on teenagers to the company's top leadership. Bejar, a former Facebook engineering director from 2009 to 2015 and a consultant at Instagram from 2019 to 2021, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law. His testimony follows that of Frances Haugen, another former Meta employee who leaked internal documents and research to expose safety concerns.

During the hearing, Bejar highlighted that despite being aware of the harms experienced by its youngest users, Meta leadership failed to take adequate action to address the issue. Lawmakers expressed frustration over the influence of tech lobbying, which they believe has hindered the passage of legislation aimed at protecting children online. Proposed bills with broad support in Senate committees have remained stagnant, awaiting a floor vote or action in the House.

Bejar's recent allegations, as revealed in a Wall Street Journal interview, echo the concerns raised by Haugen. He recounted a conversation with Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, where he raised the research on platform harms to teens and Cox acknowledged being aware of the statistics. The realization that Meta leadership was fully aware of the issue saddened Bejar, who stated, "I found it heartbreaking because it meant that they knew and they were not acting on it."

According to Bejar, part of the problem lies in Meta's focus on a narrow definition of harm. He emphasized the importance of understanding the prevalence of different types of harm on the platform among different user demographics. Bejar shared an email exchange with Meta executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, where he highlighted disturbing statistics from a survey of 13-15-year-olds on Instagram. The survey revealed that a significant number of teens experienced unwanted sexual advances, discrimination, and negative self-perception on the platform.

In response to Bejar's allegations, a Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, stated that the company continuously works to ensure the safety of young people online. He cited efforts such as anonymous notifications of potentially hurtful content, comment warnings, and the development of the "Restrict" tool based on teen feedback.

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) presented their bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), as a way to address the concerns raised by Bejar. KOSA aims to hold tech companies responsible for designing safe products for children. Blumenthal clarified that the bill is not about content or censorship but about product design that leads to toxic content being shown to kids. Despite concerns about the narrow scope of the legislation, Blumenthal argued that taking incremental steps towards protecting children is necessary.

Criticism was directed towards Congress for its failure to pass comprehensive legislation. Subcommittee Ranking Member Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called it an indictment of Congress, blaming the powerful influence of Big Tech's lobbying efforts. Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) criticized the chamber for its inaction on bills aimed at protecting child safety online.

As the testimonies of whistleblowers like Bejar and Haugen continue to expose safety concerns within Meta, the need for legislative action to ensure the protection of children online becomes increasingly glaring. The conversation surrounding the influence of tech lobbying and the urgency to address these issues is gaining momentum within Congress.