Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley raised concerns on July 22 about allegations that Meta engaged in a campaign to discredit whistleblowers who reported issues related to child safety and product development. Grassley sent a letter to leaders at Meta, Instagram, and Facebook outlining claims of retaliation against whistleblowers Joshua DeFriez and William Sevedge.
According to the letter, DeFriez and Sevedge, along with four colleagues, provided lawful disclosures to Congress during a September 2025 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing. While two testified publicly at the time, four remained anonymous. DeFriez and Sevedge have now identified themselves as public whistleblowers. Grassley said his office received a letter on July 1 alleging that Meta “recently terminated two anonymous whistleblowers following their cooperation with Senator Grassley’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee,” the disclosure stated. Both had consistently received exemplary performance evaluations.
Grassley’s letter also referenced ongoing requests for information regarding Meta’s deployment of targeted ads toward young users and recent allegations from former employee Sarah Wynn-Williams. Wynn-Williams has filed a lawsuit claiming that Meta sent a representative to surveil her during an appearance at a literary festival in Wales.
The letter details further claims by DeFriez and Sevedge that they raised concerns about “the Company’s disregard for child safety risks” across various platforms including virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, Instagram, Facebook, and the Metaverse. The whistleblowers allege they faced opposition when raising these issues internally: “they were met with opposition, censored when raising concerns to fellow employees, and expressly instructed to avoid pursuing research that could subject Meta to liability for failing to adequately [comply] with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).” The correspondence also cites reporting which describes comments by Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth indicating leaks may result in less change within the company: “There’s a funny thing that’s happening with these leaks,” Bosworth said during his Q&A earlier this week (a recording of which I obtained). “When things leak, I think a lot of times people think, ‘Ah, okay, this is leaked, therefore it’ll put pressure on us to change things.’ The opposite is more likely.”
Grassley requested responses from Meta by August 4 addressing whether there is an official policy of retaliating against whistleblowers or if any employees have been terminated for making disclosures to Congress. He also asked for full responses regarding previous inquiries into alleged efforts by Meta to silence internal critics.
The Senate Judiciary Committee serves as a standing committee of the U.S. Senate responsible for judicial oversight nationwide; it reviews legislation affecting constitutional protections as well as public safety matters under its chairperson’s leadership, according to the official website.