Des Moines Sun

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) spoke at a subcommittee hearing about his ongoing efforts to oversee Big Tech companies, specifically Meta, regarding their responsibilities to protect children online. The hearing included testimony from two former Meta employees who acted as whistleblowers.

Grassley, along with Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), recently sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. They requested information about the company’s practices of targeting teenagers based on their emotional state and raised concerns about possible violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

During the hearing, Grassley emphasized his history of supporting whistleblowers in both government and private sectors. "During my time in the Senate, I’ve always fought for whistleblowers, both in the government as well as in the private sector," Grassley said. He added that he has authored updates to several whistleblower laws and helped nearly 20 government whistleblowers regain their jobs this year.

He noted that whistleblowers play an important role in uncovering fraud and abuse beyond just government agencies. Grassley referenced a previous committee hearing from September 2022 where a Twitter whistleblower disclosed potential exposure of user data to foreign intelligence agencies.

Grassley also discussed recent allegations against Meta regarding its collection of personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, which could be a violation of COPPA.

The senator addressed concerns that tech companies sometimes try to silence whistleblowers. "My oversight has also shown that these tech companies look to silence whistleblowers," he said, mentioning letters he wrote to OpenAI and Meta on this issue. He highlighted bipartisan legislation he introduced aimed at protecting AI industry whistleblowers.

Specific cases were mentioned during the hearing. One former employee, Jason Sattizahan, reportedly received positive performance reviews but was fired six months after raising concerns about COPPA violations at Meta. Another witness, Ms. Savage, was allegedly told by company lawyers not to put Meta at risk when she brought up compliance issues.

"I often say that whistleblowers are treated like skunks at a picnic," Grassley stated during his remarks. "It appears our witnesses – as well as the other whistleblowers who’ve approached me – have unfortunately been treated like those skunks."

Grassley concluded by thanking the witnesses for coming forward and reaffirmed his commitment to continuing investigations into these matters.