Ex-Facebook Safety Exec: Testifies to Congress about Online Harms to Teenagers on Social Media

Arturo Bejar a former senior leader in charge of safety and care at Facebook (2009–2015) and later a consultant for Instagram (2019–2021), testified before US Congress that social media companies misrepresent and ignore the widespread harm, particularly to children.

In his testimony, Bejar reported that internal research indicated that 13% of 13–15 year-old users self-reported receiving unwanted sexual advances within a single seven-day period, a level of abuse he called "likely the largest-scale sexual harassment of teens to have ever happened".

He explained that since social media companies are data-guided and treat problems that aren't measured as if they "don't exist," most user distress goes unaddressed.

Bejar advocates for regulation—mandating companies to track and publicly report concrete safety metrics—which will push social media platforms to genuinely prioritize user protection over engagement and growth.

Read Arturo Bejar's full testimony here: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023-11-07_-_testimony_-_bejar.pdf

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