Social media CEOs testified this week in a heated US Senate hearing on child exploitation.
ADVERTISEMENTMark Zuckerberg apologised to parents who said social media has harmed their children during a US Senate hearing on Wednesday
“I'm sorry for everything you've been through,” the Meta CEO said. “No one should go through what you and your families have suffered."
Then he returned to corporate mode, noting Meta's continued investments in “industry-wide” efforts to protect children.
Zuckerberg testified alongside CEOs of TikTok, X and other social media companies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee at a time when lawmakers and parents are increasingly concerned about the effects of social media on young people’s lives.
"They’re responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the committee, said in opening remarks. “Their design choices, their failures to adequately invest in trust and safety, their constant pursuit of engagement and profit over basic safety have all put our kids and grandkids at risk."
In a heated question and answer session with Mark Zuckerberg, Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley asked the Meta CEO if he has personally compensated any of the victims and their families for what they have been through.
“I don't think so,” Zuckerberg replied.
“There's families of victims here,” Hawley said. “Would you like to apologise to them?”
Zuckerberg stood, turned away from his microphone and the senators, and directly addressed the parents in the gallery adding that Meta continues to invest and work on “industrywide efforts” to protect children.
'Too little, too late'
But time and time again, children’s advocates and parents have stressed that none of the companies are doing enough.
One of the parents who attended the hearing was Neveen Radwan, whose teenage daughter got sucked into a “black hole of dangerous content” on TikTok and Instagram after she started looking at videos on healthy eating and exercise at the onset of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
She developed anorexia within a few months and nearly died, Radwan recalled.
"Nothing that was said today was different than what we expected,” Radwan said.
"It was a lot of promises and a lot of, quite honestly, a lot of talk without them really saying anything. The apology that he made, while it was appreciated, it was a little bit too little, too late, of course."
But Radwan, whose daughter is now 19 and in college, said she felt a “significant shift” in the energy as she sat through the hearing, listening to the senators grill the social media CEOs in tense exchanges.
"The energy in the room was, very, very palpable. Just by our presence there, I think it was very noticeable how our presence was affecting the senators," she said.
Hawley continued to press Zuckerberg, asking if he'd take personal responsibility for the harm his company has caused. Zuckerberg stayed on message and repeated that Meta's job is to “build industry-leading tools” and empower parents.
“To make money,” Hawley cut in.
ADVERTISEMENT'Independent regulation needs to step in'
The executives touted existing safety tools on their platforms and the work they’ve done with nonprofits and law enforcement to protect minors.
Snapchat broke ranks ahead of the hearing and is backing a federal bill that would create a legal liability for apps and social platforms that recommend harmful content to minors.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel reiterated the company’s support on Wednesday and asked the industry to back the bill.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company is vigilant about enforcing its policy barring children under 13 from using the app. CEO Linda Yaccarino said X, formerly Twitter, doesn’t cater to children.
“We do not have a line of business dedicated to children,” Yaccarino said.
ADVERTISEMENTShe said the company will also support the Stop CSAM Act, a federal bill that makes it easier for victims of child exploitation to sue tech companies.
Yet child health advocates say social media companies have failed repeatedly to protect minors.
“These companies have had opportunities to do this before they failed to do that. So independent regulation needs to step in,” said Zamaan Qureshi, co-chair of Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition advocating for safer social media.
Republican and Democratic senators came together in a rare show of agreement throughout the hearing though it’s not yet clear if this will be enough to pass legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act, proposed in 2022.
“There is pretty clearly a bipartisan consensus that the status quo isn’t working," said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat.
ADVERTISEMENT"When it comes to how these companies have failed to prioritise the safety of children, there’s clearly a sense of frustration on both sides of the aisle."
Meta is being sued by dozens of states that say it deliberately designs features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.
New Mexico filed a separate lawsuit saying the company has failed to protect them from online predators.
