Former employee claims that Meta had a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on child safety issues

Former Meta safety researcher Arturo Béjar has accused the company of ignoring child safety concerns to protect its business, telling a California federal court that Meta had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it came to underage users. Arturo Béjar made the claims while testifying in a major trial brought by 29 US states, which accuse Meta of harming children and teenagers through Facebook and Instagram. He also criticised Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, saying the executive did not do enough to address safety concerns despite having broad control over the company.Arturo Béjar worked on Meta's safety team from 2009 to 2015 and later returned as a consultant between 2019 and 2021. He told jurors that he had raised safety issues with Zuckerberg at least 100 times.“You just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids,” Béjar said during his testimony. He also accused Zuckerberg of creating a misleading impression about Meta's commitment to protecting young users.“I felt that he created a false and misleading impression of Facebook’s commitment to young people,” Béjar said.According to Béjar, Meta had the ability to identify children who were getting around age-related safety measures but chose not to act aggressively. He said the company had a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach because of concerns about its business. “Where the youngest kids are is where the users are going to be in the future,” Béjar said.The trial, started on August 18 is expected to last about six weeks. Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri are expected to testify. The 29 states accuse Meta of contributing to a teen mental health crisis through the design of its platforms. They are also seeking changes to Facebook and Instagram and major financial penalties.Lawyers for the states have said the damages could approach $200 billion, while Meta has argued that the potential exposure could reach $1.4 trillion.Meta has denied wrongdoing. During opening arguments, Meta lawyer Paul Schmidt said Zuckerberg and other company leaders had taken steps to protect children online, including parental controls and time limits for social media use.