NASHVILLE, TENN. – A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), demanded Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg provide documents related to senior executives’ knowledge of the mental and physical health harms associated with its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

The Senators’ letter follows last week’s hearing with a new Facebook whistleblower and after a newly unsealed complaint filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General against Meta alleged Zuckerberg and other Meta executives knew firsthand the serious harms its products were causing to kids, but failed to act to remedy them and deliberately misled the public and Congress. 

“Meta’s representations to the public and in response to Congressional inquiries concealed and misrepresented its extensive knowledge about the threats to young people on its platforms,” wrote the Senators.

Last Tuesday, former Facebook executive Arturo Béjar testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law about his efforts to inform Zuckerberg and other Meta executives about alarming internal research data on harmful experiences young people have on Instagram. 

“Rather than act on the stunning findings, Meta hid this information from the public and Congressional oversight while providing misleading statistics, ignoring recommendations to protect teens, and even rolling back safety tools,” continued the Senators.

The Senators called on Zuckerberg to provide to Congress directly a number of documents related to safety, including communications with Béjar and other communications between senior executives cited in the Massachusetts suit.

The full text of the letter can be found here.