U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seeking clarification about the company’s practices regarding children’s privacy and its alleged targeting of teenagers based on their emotional state.
The senators’ inquiry follows recent disclosures about Meta’s operations. Senator Blackburn has previously advocated for legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act, aiming to address how large technology companies interact with young users on their platforms. She has also pressed Meta for accountability after reports emerged that underage users were exposed to inappropriate conversations with AI-powered chatbots and raised concerns over Instagram’s “map” feature, which may allow minors to share their locations.
In their letter, the senators reference internal Facebook documents: “Chairman Grassley’s office… obtained a draft PowerPoint that describes a 2014 study conducted by Facebook entitled Global Youth Study – Overview of Findings. In the study, Facebook analyzed the emotional behavior of 1,000 respondents aged 13 to 24 years old to determine how they respond to social media, whether they share branded material with peers, and what emotional triggers drive the spread of brand-based content. According to slide 170, the audience of the Global Youth Study is ‘influencers, agencies, brands, sales, other industry, and customers.’ This new information appears to contradict Facebook’s 2017 statement that it ‘does not offer tools to target people based on their emotional state.’”
The senators also cite an April 2025 Federal Trade Commission complaint against Meta: “Further, according to an April 10, 2025, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint filed against Meta, the company allegedly allowed children under the age of 13 to register with adult accounts for the Horizon Worlds VR platform and failed to take appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Specifically, the FTC complaint alleges that Meta has collected ‘vast amounts of personal information from children under 13 without parental consent,’ in violation of COPPA. Even more concerning, Meta allegedly chose to move forward with plans to expand the Horizon Worlds platform to children as young as 10 without instituting appropriate safety measures to ensure child accounts required parental consent for data collection. The complaint alleges that, as a result, Meta has unlawfully collected data on children and exposed children to ‘racism, sexual harassment, bullying, and child endangerment.’ If Meta disagrees with these publicly filed assertions, we welcome an explanation. Even more recent, on August 14, 2025, reports surfaced stating that Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots ‘engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.’ Reports also indicate that ‘Meta’s AI chatbots flirt or engage in sexual roleplay with teenagers.’”
The full text of the senators’ letter can be accessed online.
Senator Blackburn has been active in efforts related to children’s online safety and recently joined other lawmakers urging Meta to disable features like Instagram’s map tool due to concerns about potential risks for minors from traffickers or predators.
