Don’t miss this article in Time Magazine! Court Filings Allege Meta Downplayed Risks to Children and Misled the Public

And, from The Guardian: How Facebook and Instagram became marketplaces for child sex trafficking

And, from TRT World: US court case shines light on ‘child exploitation’ on Facebook, Instagram

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“What is it they are so afraid of?”

“I think that we’ve already got a sense of it. Sarah Wynn-Williams knows the truth about Facebook. That’s what they fear.”

~ Senator Josh Hawley

THE COURAGE

Angela Hoy, President and CEO of BookLocker.com, and the Publisher of WritersWeekly, has developed a keen interest in the serial exploitation of children by Meta Platforms, Inc. Although our collective focus has been on fraudulent publishing predators who have completely overrun Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, I started digging deeper.

This morning, I went back, and revisited the testimony of Sarah Wynn-Williams before a Senate Committee chaired by Senator Josh Hawley (R Missouri). Sarah Wynn-Williams is a former Senior Executive of Global Public Policy for Facebook, now Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta). In 2017, her employment was terminated under very questionable circumstances after she raised cringe-worthy allegations of sexual harassment, among other equally cringe-worthy reasons for her abrupt departure.

Ms. Wynn-Williams is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, Careless People, a Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Apparently, Wynn-Williams was under a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement with Meta after she left the tech giant in 2017. She had been served with a gag order on the day of her memoir’s publication. Nevertheless, she did testify before the Senate Committee in April. Ironically, she sat in a seat just as Mark Zuckerberg did many times before, noted Senator Hawley during the hearing.

I read her book, and wrote about the situation: Author Sells 60K Copies in 1 Week AND Testifies Before the U.S. Senate

As recounted by Wynn-Williams in her testimony, she was served with the gag order, as directed by an arbiter, after an emergency hearing to which she had no prior notice. Meta executives used a defunct email account to notify Wynn-Williams of the hearing, despite having her current address, and other pertinent up-to-date contact information for her. Obviously, Wynn-Williams did not attend the hearing, and did not have the benefit of due process and counsel at her side. Violating the gag order subjects her to a penalty of $50,000.00 per occurrence should she disparage Facebook, and irrespective of her statements’ veracity or truthfulness. Why did Meta use this tactic?

Well, you can see her testimony in its entirety here: FULL HEARING: Facebook Whistleblower Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee

Wynn Williams, a mother of three children, exuded poise and candor, and delivered a sense that Meta’s C-suite is irreparably broken. Wynn-Williams also delivered troubling news on Meta’s relationship with the Communist Party in China (CCP). According to her testimony, Zuckerberg and Meta had established ties with the CCP, and shared sensitive user data, not only for Chinese citizens, but also for those in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Zuckerberg schooled himself in Mandarin, and frequently flew to China.

CHINA – AN 18 BILLION DOLLAR EMPIRE

Not only did Meta share data from foreign country platform users, but it also shared U.S. users’ data with China. In fact, as Senator Richard Blumenthal (D Connecticut) noted, the harvested data was reviewed by an Orwellian oversight czar of sorts in Beijing. According to Wynn-Williams’ testimony, Meta has built an 18-billion-dollar business in China, which is completely contrary to previous sworn testimony of multiple Meta executives, and previous sworn Senate testimony of Mark Zuckerberg himself. Senator Hawley delivered closing remarks in which he made clear that Meta will be held to account for lying to Congress. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1621, the penalty for perjury is imprisonment for up to five years and substantial fines.

CHILD EXPLOITATION

While the majority of Wynn-Williams’ testimony was focused upon Meta’s suspect venture into China, and the exploitation of that relationship by Zuckerberg, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R Tennessee) steered Wynn-Williams toward the subject of exploitation of children.

Children, ages 13-17 are a “sweet spot” for Meta to direct advertising and it readily does so. Meta’s algorithms are so sophisticated that they can ferret out when child and teen users are in distress. For example, if a child deletes his or her selfies on Facebook or Instagram, engages in body shaming, or other self-deprecating dialogue, Meta harvests and uses that personal data to sell product advertisements. Paying advertisers are more than willing to swoop in with products targeting children and teens who are exhibiting emotional distress. Behavioral targeting is a boon for Meta’s revenue streams. This tactic also applies to young mothers who, postpartum, are often vulnerable to emotional distress.

Ironically, Wynn-Williams noted that there is a glaring dichotomy at Facebook. The C-Suite and regular employees don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to user privacy. Wynn-Williams spoke highly of Meta employees who still held firm to their moral compass while alleging the C-Suite personnel were indifferent to the strife and vulnerability of its teens and young users.

Profits are paramount at Meta – at any cost – despite internal documents raising ethical and moral concerns about the exploitation of teen and child users. Ironically, as Wynn-Williams noted in her testimony, most Meta senior executives wouldn’t dream of allowing their own teen children to use Facebook and Instagram. Rather, many Meta executives prohibit their usage.

Senator Blackburn expressed what appeared to me as remorse as her efforts to pass legislation known as KOSA – Kids Online Safety Act – failed to become law. The proposed legislation easily cleared the Senate in a 91-3 vote in July 2024. Regrettably, it failed to pass in the House of Representatives. There were several Senatorial comments during this phase of the Wynn-Williams hearing in which is was noted that Meta was staunchly opposed to KOSA’s passage, and lobbied vehemently against it. Senator Hawley went so far as to describe such lobbying as bribery.

Our rapidly developing Internet ecosystem is in desperate need of constraint and oversight. Left to their own devices, Silicon Valley Titans of Tech have effectively demonstrated that they are incapable of doing so themselves. Meta, along with other tech firms, have created a mental health crisis for our young children and teens. Meta and Mark Zuckerberg are beyond indifferent to this gut-wrenching consequence of their actions.

RELATED

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JAMES M. WALSH, ESQ. is a former Navy JAGC officer and a recipient of the American Bar Association’s coveted LAMP Award for excellence in military legal assistance practice. A rolling stone, J.M. has globetrotted most of his adult life. After the military, J.M. pursued commercial real estate development, leasing, and asset management. He resides in Catania, Sicily. He spent almost twenty years in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Luzerne, Erie & Lackawanna Counties. His handiwork as an editor and author is interspersed throughout this novel. Leo A. Murray fondly refers to J.M. as his collaborative, literary ‘Coach’ or ‘Lieutenant.’ Agnes claims that he has gypsy in his heart and rabbit in his feet.

James’ thriller, Maximum Impact, written with co-author Leo Murray, was published by Abuzz Press.

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