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SCHAKOWSKY & BLUMENTHAL TO FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE: STOP RESALES OF DEADLY RECALLED PRODUCTS LIKE Rock ‛n Play SLEEPER

March 16, 2022

With millions of Rock ‛n Play Sleepers still in American homes, lawmakers also demanded Fisher-Price bolster its recall to alert public

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, called on Facebook Marketplace to ensure deadly recalled products are not listed and sold on the platform. In a damning investigation, USA Today revealed that many recalled products—including the deadly Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleeper—are frequently found on Facebook Marketplace despite being recalled. The Rock ‛n Play Sleeper, recalled in 2019, has been linked to the deaths of nearly 100 infants, with at least 8 deaths occurring after the product was recalled.

"Meta has a moral obligation to its users to prevent, monitor, and remove these dangerous listings from its platform, and make it easier for users to do the same; Meta's continued failure to do so indicates a remarkable dereliction of duty by your company on behalf of your users," wrote Blumenthal and Schakowsky to Facebook Marketplace parent company Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The lawmakers called on Meta to implement a long-awaited tool allowing users to report a recalled product and to automatically restrict the sale of recalled goods like it restricts other illegal items.

"We expect that you fully understand the danger of a recalled product ending up in an unwitting family's home. Recalled products can cause injury or even death," stressed Blumenthal and Schakowsky. "Meta has an ability to be a partner with the CPSC, and manufacturers facing recalls, in the fight to protect children from dangerous and deadly products, and we hope that Meta will heed this call."

Blumenthal and Schakowsky also wrote to Fisher-Price, demanding answers about the company's deficient recall efforts around the Rock ‛n Play Sleeper and calling on the company to urgently act to notify the public about this hazard.

"It is clear that Fisher-Price may have underinvested in recall efforts and continued to pursue messaging to confuse parents and caregivers," wrote the lawmakers to Fisher-Price parent company Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz. "We write today to request information on the efforts that your company has taken to notify consumers of the recall—and remove Rock ‛n Plays from homes and the market. It is clear from your own data that more needs to be done to protect your consumers."

The text of the letter to Meta is available here and below. The text of the letter to Mattel is available here and below.

March 9, 2022


Mr. Mark Zuckerberg

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Meta Platforms, Inc.

1601 Willow Road

Menlo Park, California 94025


Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,


We write with dismay that Meta has failed to take adequate steps to monitor and act against recalled products on Facebook Marketplace. Despite repeated warnings from parents, safety advocates, the press, and Congress, recent investigations have again shown that Meta continues to allow recalled items to be sold on Facebook Marketplace. Meta has a moral obligation to its users to prevent, monitor, and remove these dangerous listings from its platform, and make it easier for users to do the same; Meta's continued failure to do so indicates a remarkable dereliction of duty by your company on behalf of your users. We write once again to urge Meta to vigorously act to remove listings for recalled products and put into place effective systems to stop these dangerous items from ending up in the hands of consumers.


Under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), it is illegal to sell or offer to sell any recalled consumer product. This prohibition applies to products with specified lead levels, children's toys that may contain phthalates, products violating the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) safety standards, as well as products that have been recalled.[1] In April 2019 and May 2020, we wrote to you to express our concern with the failure of Meta (formerly Facebook) to properly monitor and eliminate the sale of recalled products on Facebook Marketplace.[2] As we shared then, Facebook Marketplace—a platform for your users to buy and sell new and used products—has acted as a marketplace for often-unwitting Americans to purchase and sell recalled, dangerous goods.

Unfortunately, over a year after expressing our dismay with the continued existence of recalled products on your Marketplace, recalled products are still pervasive across the platform. On November 3, 2021, a USA TODAY investigation found at least 170 listings for recalled items on Facebook Marketplace, including the Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleeper, as well as Bumbo seats, the Nap Nanny, IKEA Malm dressers, and the more recently recalled Boppy newborn loungers.[3] In sum, the authors identified 14 recalled products, which have been linked to 121 deaths of children and 375 serious injuries.[4] Of the listings located, several had been marked as sold, and on some, sellers openly acknowledged the existence of a recall on the product and their desire to sell regardless. Furthermore, USA TODAY staff created eight listings for recalled products on Marketplace, only one of which was removed by your platform.[5]

Since this reporting, another investigation conducted by Consumer Reports, released on February 4, 2022, revealed that eight infants have died in Rock ‛n Plays since the initial 2019 announcement of the recall—and fewer than one in ten of the Rock ‛n Plays have been accounted for.[6] It is true that consumer awareness and response diminishes in the months following a recall—meaning that many parents, some of whom may be searching your Marketplace for used products, may be entirely unaware of the recall affecting Rock ‛n Play and countless other recalls. Meta has a moral obligation to its users to monitor and remove these dangerous listings from its platform. While we are pleased that Meta acknowledged the law when it updated its seller policies after our April 2019 letter[7], it has failed to take other steps that could protect consumers.


Specifically, Meta has long-resisted implementing a tool that would allow users to specifically report a recalled product, which would result in more reports and more prompt listing removals. Additionally, Meta does not appear to have taken adequate steps to automatically restrict the sale of recalled goods in the same manner as other illegal items. Still today, users are able to find these recalled products in their geographic areas; this seems to indicate that Meta has failed even to implement manual checks beyond the bare minimum.


In light of the ongoing, persistent concerns that have been raised by parents, advocates, ourselves, and our colleagues, we would respectfully ask you to answer the following questions as we seek to determine a path forward to best protect consumers, and especially children:

Over the last year, how many recalled products were removed from Facebook Marketplace?
What percentage of those removals were automated removals rather than user reports?
Please describe the specific automated systems that Meta has to prevent the posting of, and to remove, listings for recalled products.
Please describe the specific manual systems that Meta has to prevent the posting of, and to remove, listings for recalled products.
Why has Meta chosen not to implement a reporting option to allow Marketplace users to specifically flag recalled products, as similar companies, like Craigslist and eBay, have chosen to do?
How does Meta track the sales of products on Facebook Marketplace?
If your company determines after sale that the product sold was a recalled product, does your company communicate with either the seller or buyer, or both?
Please describe the partnership that your company has with the CPSC and how you leverage that relationship to best protect consumers.
How regularly does Meta consult with the CPSC's public database and update its technology to ensure the most recently recalled products are being flagged and removed from Marketplace?
Does Meta work with manufacturers whose products have been recalled to monitor the Marketplace? If so, please describe these relationships.

We expect that you fully understand the danger of a recalled product ending up in an unwitting family's home. Recalled products can cause injury or even death. As we have stated before, Meta has an ability to be a partner with the CPSC, and manufacturers facing recalls, in the fight to protect children from dangerous and deadly products, and we hope that Meta will heed this call. We respectfully request a response to our questions by March 23, 2022.

Sincerely,

March 9, 2022


Mr. Ynon Kreiz

Chief Executive Officer

Mattel, Inc.

333 Continental Boulevard

El Segundo, California 90245


Dear Mr. Kreiz,

We write to express alarm and frustration about the apparent continued issues with the 2019 recall of Fisher-Price's Rock ‛n Play Sleeper. Recent reporting has revealed that the progress of the recall has stalled, leaving hundreds of thousands of products left unaccounted for, and perhaps in use by parents and caregivers. We are today writing to request answers about Fisher-Price's work and involvement in the recall.

As you are well aware, in 2019, after dozens of infant deaths, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Fisher-Price was recalling the Rock ‛n Play[8]; since the recall, the number of infant deaths and injuries have continued to increase. A Consumer Reports investigation, released on February 4, 2022, revealed that at least eight infants have died in the Rock ‛n Play since the 2019 recall.[9] This figure is devastating, and these deaths were avoidable. Products should be swiftly removed from the market following a recall, and consumers need to be notified, not once, not twice, but however many times it may take for the product to be returned.

In the case of the Rock ‛n Play, it is apparent from the February 4 Consumer Reports story that this is not what Fisher-Price has done. An ongoing lawsuit has revealed that some consumers allege that they never even received a recall notification from Fisher-Price or Mattel. In addition, Fisher-Price and Mattel reported to the CPSC that fewer than eight percent of Rock ‛n Plays had been accounted for at the end of 2020—only 395,239 of the 4.84 million units that were recalled starting in 2019.[10] While consumer interest in recalls is expected to dip in the months following the recall, this recall performance is abysmal and unacceptable.

In addition, your company continues to insist, despite all available evidence, that the Rock ‛n Play is "safe when used in accordance with its instructions and warnings"[11]—a message that may dissuade or confuse consumers about the severity of the recall, or persuade new consumers to use the Rock ‛n Play. In fact, we can see this mixed messaging in action—possibly leading new consumers to purchase Rock ‛n Plays. The February 4 Consumer Reports story, as well as a November 3, 2021, report from USA TODAY, found that Rock ‛n Plays, as well as a multitude of other recalled products, continue to exist for sale on online marketplaces, such as Facebook Marketplace.[12],[13] These listings can reach new parents and caregivers, including those that have never received a recall notification from Fisher-Price and are completely unaware of the harms the Rock ‛n Play may pose to their infant.

It is clear that Fisher-Price may have underinvested in recall efforts and continued to pursue messaging to confuse parents and caregivers. As such, we write today to request information on the efforts that your company has taken to notify consumers of the recall—and remove Rock ‛n Plays from homes and the market. It is clear from your own data that more needs to be done to protect your consumers.

How did Fisher-Price determine who should receive recall notifications following the 2019 recall?
How many recall notifications did Fisher-Price send?
Did Fisher-Price track recall notifications and the subsequent response from the notified consumer?
How did Fisher-Price follow up with consumers who failed to respond to the initial notification?
What additional work has Fisher-Price done to spread recall awareness among consumers?
Beyond required reporting, how does Fisher-Price work with the CPSC to advance recall efforts?
Does Fisher-Price work with or surveil online marketplaces, like Facebook Marketplace, for the Rock ‛n Play?
If yes, how does Fisher-Price work to have online listings for the Rock ‛n Play removed by the platform?

Given the serious threat to consumers, we ask that you respond to this letter by no later than March 23, 2022.
Sincerely,

[1] "The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)," United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws--Standards/Statutes/The-Consumer-Product-Safety-Improvement-Act.
[2] "Blumenthal Demands Facebook & Craigslist Take Action to Prevent Illegal Sale of Recalled Products," April 24, 2019, https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-demands-facebook-and-craigslist-take-action-to-prevent-illegal-sale-of-recalled-products.
[3] Tricia Nadolny, "Recalled Items That Have Killed Kids Still On Facebook," USA Today, November 3, 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/11/03/facebook-marketplace-sale-recall-boppy-lounger/6140902001/.
[4] Tricia Nadolny, "Recalled Items That Have Killed Kids Still On Facebook," USA Today, November 3, 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/11/03/facebook-marketplace-sale-recall-boppy-lounger/6140902001/.
[5] Tricia Nadolny "Recalled Items That Have Killed Kids Still On Facebook," USA Today, November 3, 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/11/03/facebook-marketplace-sale-recall-boppy-lounger/6140902001/.
[6] Ryan Felton, "At Least 8 Infant Deaths Linked to Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleepers Occurred After the Product Was Recalled," Consumer Reports, February 4, 2022, https://www.consumerreports.org/baby-product-recalls/deaths-linked-to-fisher-price-rock-n-play-after-recall-a1183945428/.
[7] "Terms and Policies," Meta, https://www.facebook.com/policies_center/commerce.
[8] "Fisher-Price Recalls Rock ‛n Play Sleepers Due to Reports of Deaths," United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2019/Fisher-Price-Recalls-Rock-n-Play-Sleepers-Due-to-Reports-of-Deaths.
[9] Ryan Felton, "At Least 8 Infant Deaths Linked to Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleepers Occurred After the Product Was Recalled," Consumer Reports, February 4, 2022, https://www.consumerreports.org/baby-product-recalls/deaths-linked-to-fisher-price-rock-n-play-after-recall-a1183945428/.
[10] Felton, "At Least 8 Infant Deaths Linked to Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleepers Occurred After the Product Was Recalled."
[11] Minyvonne Burke, "Fisher-Price Ignored Warnings for Sleeper Dozens of Infants Died In, Congressional Report Says," NBC News, June 8, 2021, https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/fisher-price-ignored-warnings-sleeper-dozens-infants-died-congressional-report-n1269965.
[12] Felton, "At Least 8 Infant Deaths Linked to Fisher-Price Rock ‛n Play Sleepers Occurred After the Product Was Recalled."
[13] Tricia Naldony "Recalled Items That Have Killed Kids Still On Facebook," USA Today, November 3, 2021, https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/11/03/facebook-marketplace-sale-recall-boppy-lounger/6140902001/.