Recalled child products linked to more than 100 infant deaths are still broadly bought on Facebook Marketplace regardless of hundreds of requests from federal regulators to take down the objects, 4 members of Congress stated.
In a letter despatched Friday to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the lawmakers stated the Boppy lounger, which was recalled in 2021, and the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play, an infant sleep product that was recalled in 2019, are among the many objects still bought on the platform.
Lawmakers wrote that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has despatched Facebook father or mother Meta about 1,000 requests a month since 2022 to take away the recalled Boppy Newborn Lounger, however the product retains cropping up for sale on the platform.
“To date, the amount of takedown requests has not slowed, and CPSC workers is unaware of any proactive measures Meta has taken to forestall these postings sooner or later,” stated the letter, signed by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican; the House Energy and Commerce Committee chair, Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat; the panel’s rating member, Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
“Meta’s failure to forestall recalled products from being posted for sale on its platform has resulted in your customers and their kids being positioned liable to buying and utilizing a product that CPSC has discovered to pose a critical danger of damage and potential demise,” the lawmakers wrote.
In a press release, a Meta spokesperson stated that “like different platforms the place individuals should buy and promote items, there are situations of individuals knowingly or unknowingly promoting recalled items on Marketplace.”
“We take this problem severely and after we discover listings that violate our guidelines, we take away them,” the spokesperson stated.
In June, the CPSC’s commissioners despatched a letter to Zuckerberg calling on him to do more to forestall the sale of the recalled products. But new postings aren’t slowing down, in accordance to the lawmakers.
In the letter, the members of Congress requested for more details about Meta’s product security insurance policies, the way it screens remembers and what number of workers members are devoted to consumer-product questions of safety.
Recently, the tech firm introduced plans to lower about 21,000 jobs, and the layoffs have had an outsized effect on Meta’s belief and security work, CNBC beforehand reported. Some consultants and former workers stated the layoffs will make it more durable for the social media big to take care of safety-related points in a well timed method as a result of the groups may have to do more with much less, CNBC reported.
Lawmakers despatched related letters looking for data on security protocols and compliance to more than a dozen retailers with on-line marketplaces, together with Target, Walmart, Amazon, Shein and eBay. But they didn’t accuse the businesses of promoting recalled products.
The lawmakers requested Meta to reply by Aug. 31.