FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Contacts:
David Monahan, Fairplay: [email protected]
Josh Golin statement on Meta whistleblower Arturo Béjar’s testimony
BOSTON, MA — Tuesday, November 7, 2023 — Statement of Josh Golin, Executive Director of Fairplay, on today’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony of Arturo Béjar:
Arturo Béjar’s courageous whistleblowing makes clear that top executives at Meta not only know its platforms are harmful to kids and teens but they also know what they could do to make its products safer and less addictive. But the company consistently puts profits ahead of young people’s wellbeing, turning a blind eye to the fact that every week, one in 8 teens on Instagram experiences unwanted sexual advances; one in five is a victim of cyberbullying; and one in six is exposed to content that promotes self-harm.
That is precisely why we need the Kids Online Safety Act, so that companies like Meta have a duty of care to the young people that drive their record profits. We don’t need more evidence, more documents, or more testimony–we need KOSA. Every day that Congress fails to advance this groundbreaking legislation, they are complicit in Meta’s abuse of children.
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