“Silicon Valley executives don’t let their kids use the products they make.” This phrase, uttered by the whistleblower Sarah Wynn Williams during his testimony to the US Senate, encapsulates all the hypocrisy of an industry that preaches innovation but practices exploitation. The former Meta executive revealed how the company Mark Zuckerberg has deliberately targeted adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 precisely at their moments of greatest emotional vulnerability to offer them beauty products, or weight-loss diets. The whistleblower described a system that not only monitors, but actively monetizes the psychological fragility of adolescents.
The Whistleblower: “Meta, an Industry that Exploits Vulnerability”
During the hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism USA, Wynn-Williams answered a question from the senator Marsha blackburn, admitting that Meta (then still known as Facebook) targeted 13- to 17-year-olds when they were feeling down or depressed.
“It could identify when they felt useless or helpless or like a failure, and Meta would take that information and share it with advertisers.”
The former Director of Global Public Policy explained how this practice was based on a very specific commercial logic: “Advertisers understand that when people are not feeling good about themselves, it is often a good time to propose a product: people are more likely to buy something.”
Targeted targeting practices
The mechanism described by the whistleblower is disturbing. If a girl deleted a selfie, for example, this was interpreted as a sign of insecurity about her appearance: an ideal moment to propose beauty products. Similarly, when young women expressed concerns about their bodies, they were targeted with advertisements for slimming products.
The motivation, according to the Wynn Williams, was purely economic. Meta was aware that users between 13 and 17, while vulnerable, represented a “very valuable” demographic for advertisers.
The hypocrisy of the top
One of the most shocking aspects that emerged from the testimony concerns the attitude of Meta's executives. The whistleblower said that many of them did not allow their children to use the products developed by the company.
“I would ask, 'Oh, has your teenager used the new product we're launching?' and they would say, 'My teenagers aren't allowed to use Facebook. I don't have my son on Instagram.'”
“These executives… they know it. They know the damage this product causes. They don’t allow their children to use the products that Meta develops. The hypocrisy is at every level,” Wynn-Williams added.
Whistleblower: Practices extended to adults too
Emotional targeting practices are not limited to teenagers. The hearing showed a screen capture of an internal chat in which a Facebook policy director asked if it was true that the company was conducting research on young mothers and their emotional states. The affirmative response was accompanied by a joke about “apparently morally bankrupt colleagues.”
Meta responded to the accusations with an official statement in which he defines already denied Wynn-Williams's claims were "out of touch with reality and full of false claims."
These new revelations add to the already worrying picture that has emerged from the whistleblower's book, “Careless People”, which documents his experience at Facebook and the “casually” disregard of top executives, including Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg, about the power the company holds in the world and its ability to cause harm. The feeling we had, and still have, is that we will hear more about it.
