The hearing marks lawmakers' latest effort to address concerns from parents and mental health professionals that social media companies are putting profits over child protections.
"Mr. Zuckerberg, you and these companies, I know you didn't mean it, but you have blood on your hands," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, referring to Meta (Facebook). "You have a killer product."
At the hearing, the Judiciary Committee cited statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that showed a dramatic increase in “sextortion,” in which predators trick minors into sending sexually explicit photos and videos. “The disturbing increase in child sexual exploitation is being fueled by changes in technology,” the lawmakers said in a statement.
In response, CEO Zuckerberg expressed regret for what the victims and their families went through and pledged to work to prevent similar incidents, but did not admit responsibility for facilitating the abuse.
The committee previously released copies of internal emails showing Zuckerberg rejecting a policy executive's proposal to hire more engineers to improve safety on the platform.
Meanwhile, X CEO Yaccarino said the company supports the STOP CSAM Act, which would hold tech companies accountable for child abuse and allow victims to sue tech platforms and app stores.
Last week, social network X blocked searches for Taylor Swift after fake pornographic images of the singer spread across the internet.
The January 31 hearing also marked TikTok CEO Chew’s first appearance before lawmakers since March last year, when the Chinese-based company was accused of harming children’s mental health. Chew revealed that more than 170 million Americans use TikTok monthly, 20 million more than the company said last year.
Under questioning from Graham, he said TikTok would spend more than $2 billion on trust and safety efforts, but declined to say how that figure compared to the company's overall revenue.
(According to Reuters)
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