During a session in the US Senate, the executive director of “Meta”, which owns Instagram and Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has apologized to families who have stated that their children have been harmed as a result of using social networks.
He and the heads of TikTok, Snap, X and Discord were questioned for about 4 hours by US senators, who focused their questions on what the social network bosses are doing to protect children online.
In the US Congress, legislation is being passed that aims to hold social media companies accountable for the material posted on their platforms.
Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew voluntarily agreed to testify, but executives from Snap, X and messaging platform Discord initially refused and were served subpoenas issued by the government.
After the social media bosses finished their questioning session, behind them sat family members who claimed their children had self-harmed or, in the most tragic case, killed themselves as a result of social media content.
TikTok CEO Chew was asked if his company shared US user data with the Chinese government, which he denied. He added that as a father of three young children, he knew the issues at hand were dire and every parent’s nightmare. Chew admitted that his children did not use TikTok because of rules in Singapore, which prohibit children under 13 from creating accounts.
Zuckenberg, meanwhile, was the one under the most scrutiny as he testified before Congress for the third time. At one point, Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked: “Mr. Zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking?” when he showed him a message on Instagram that warns users they may see child sexual abuse material but asks if they would like to “see the results anyway”.
On the other hand, Zuckenberg said that often this way is useful rather than blocking it, to help children towards something that could be useful, however, he said that he will personally look into such cases.
During another hearing with Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Zuckerberg was invited to apologize to the families sitting behind him. He stood up, turned to the audience and said: I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through, it’s terrible. No one should have to go through what your families have suffered.
At the heart of the hearing was the companies’ stance on the Internet security legislation currently making its way through Congress. Before the session in Congress, the company “Meta” had announced new security measures, including that minors will no longer be able to receive messages on Instagram and Messenger from strangers.
After the hearing, some of the parents who were present organized a rally outside and called on lawmakers to urgently pass legislation to hold companies accountable for the harm they have caused to their children.