Lawmakers interrogate Meta, Big Tech CEOs on child safety measures

CEOs from TikTok, X, Snapchat and Meta testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 31. In a key moment of the hearing on social media child safety measures, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized directly to the parents impacted by his company’s policies.

“I’m sorry for everything you all have gone through,” Zuckerberg said. “No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. And this is why we’ve invested so much and are going to continue doing industry leading efforts to make sure no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.”

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The CEOs gathered to answer questions from lawmakers about the role their platforms play in the lives of young people, and the power parents have in managing their children’s activity. 

Lawmakers argue that social media harms kids and teens, citing encounters that push child sexploitation, nudity, self-harm ideologies, and fentanyl onto young vulnerable people.

“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you’ve got blood on your hands,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, said “You have a product that’s killing people.”

“When a Boeing plane lost a door mid-flight several weeks ago, nobody questioned the decision to ground a fleet of over 700 planes,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said. “So why aren’t we taking the same type of decisive action on the danger of these platforms when we know these kids are dying?”

In a Congress with increasingly polarized views, senators on both sides of the aisle were united in their calls for more accountability from the tech giants.

“As early as 2017, law enforcement identified Snapchat as the pedophile’s go-to sexual exploitation tool,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.

“Here’s a quote from your own study. Quote ‘We make body image issues worse for one in three teen girls,'” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said toward Zuckerberg.

“The FBI director testified before this committee that there’s been over 20 suicides of kids attributed to online revenge porn in just the last year,” Klobuchar said.

“We are here in this hearing because as a collective, your platforms really suck at policing themselves,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “We hear about it here in Congress with fentanyl and other drug dealings facilitated across platforms. We see it and hear about it here in congress with harassment and bullying that takes place across your platforms. We see it and hear about it here in Congress with respect to child pornography, sexploitation and blackmail and we are sick of it.”

There was pushback over accusations the tech giants are not doing enough. At one point, Zuckerberg called into question the link between the platforms and the impact they have on kids. 

“Mr. Zuckerberg, let me start with you,” Hawley said. “Did I hear you say in your opening statement that there’s no link between mental health and social media use?”

“Senator, what I said is I think it’s important to look at the science,” Zuckerberg responded. “I know people widely talk about this as if it’s something that’s already been proven, and I think the bulk of the scientific evidence does not support that.”

Hawley went on to ask Zuckerberg to speak to the parents directly.

“Let me ask you this,” Hawley said. “There are families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to do so now? They’re here, you’re on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who’ve been harmed by your product? Show him the pictures. Would you like to apologize for what you’ve done to these good people?”

That’s when Zuckerberg stood up, turned around, and addressed the victims’ families.

Right now, it’s unclear whether this hearing will result in any direct action from these tech companies. However, lawmakers have introduced legislation they hope will add a layer of accountability for social media companies.

“So, the bottom line is you can’t be sued,” Graham said. “You should be! And these emails would be great for punitive damages. But the courtroom is closed to every American abused by all the companies in front of me. Of all the people in America we could give blanket liability protection to, this would be the last group I would pick. It is now time to repeal Section 230.”

Currently, under Section 230, service providers are not liable for third parties’ content on their platforms, and lawmakers are hoping to change that for victims’ families.

“We’ve got five bills that have received unanimous vote in the committee,” Durbin said. “We’re focused on those bills.”

Graham said he’s going to pressure all his colleagues to vote on bills pertaining to online child safety in the coming weeks.