Meta Accused Of Failing To Maintain Youth Safety On Facebook And Instagram

Meta deliberately ignores the dangers that threaten teens on its platform (photo: dock. Meta)

JAKARTA - Merta's former employee, Arturo Bejar, testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Tuesday, November 7. During the trial, Bejar discussed the bad effects of the Meta platform.

Bejar stated that Facebook and Instagram, two platforms managed by Meta, are aware of harassment issues and various other dangers facing teens on their platform.

Meski sudah tahu, Meta dituding lambat dalam bertindak. Bahkan, mantan Direktur Teknik Tim Protect and CareFacebook selama enam tahun itu mengklaim bahwa Meta telah gagal mengatasi masalah tersebut.

"It's time for the public and parents to understand the real dangers this product' is and it's time for young users to have tools to report and suppress online abuse," Bejar said before the trial took place.

Bejar's accusations arise when his good efforts seem as ignored by Meta. While still working on Facebook, Bejar wanted to make Facebook and Instagram a safe and fun platform for teens.

This wish was conveyed to senior executors on Meta, including Mark Zuckerberg. They continued to hold meetings until Bejar thought the executives intended to support his work.

However, this allegation is wrong. Bejar finally concluded that the executives did not want to ignore this issue and ignored its recommendations to present a safe platform for teenagers.

Bejar revealed that 51 percent of Instagram users have reported bad and dangerous experiences on their platform in just seven days. This percentage is networked from internal data a few years ago.

In addition, 24.4 percent of children aged 13 to 15 reported that they were sexually persuaded. One of the victims was Bejar's own child who was then 16 years old.

Bejar said that his son had received misogini comments, hatred for women, and obscene photos. However, Instagram does not have a special tool to report problems like this.

The former employee is very confident that Meta understands the urgency of this problem, but they don't carry out threat mitigation. Bejar added, "I feel it's sad because it means they know it and don't take action."