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WASHINGTON — House lawmakers cited the continuing sale of recalled baby products linked to infant deaths on Meta‘s Facebook in a round of letters to 17 corporations questioning compliance with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards concerning the listing of unsafe products.
“Meta’s failure to stop recalled products from being posted on the market on its platform has resulted in your users and their children being placed liable to purchasing and using a product that CPSC has found to pose a serious risk of injury and potential death,” the bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote in a letter dated Aug. 17.
The CPSC’s frustration with Meta over the problem, which incorporates hundreds of takedown requests, has spilled over to questions on how major online retailers resembling Amazon, Walmart, Goal and others handle stopping the sale of recalled or unsafe items.
Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said the CPSC has requested a mean of about 1,000 takedowns monthly to Meta for the Boppy Newborn Lounger, which was recalled in 2021.
“Like other platforms where people should purchase and sell goods, there are instances of individuals knowingly or unknowingly selling recalled goods on Marketplace,” a spokesperson for Meta told CNBC. “We take this issue seriously and once we find listings that violate our rules, we remove them.”
Representatives for Amazon, Walmart and Goal didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment. Lawmakers gave the businesses nine days to reply.
The letters were signed by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., chair of Energy and Commerce; Rating Member Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J.; Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.; and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ailing.
