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Meta-CEO Mark Zuckerberg: "No one should go through what your families endured"
Photo: Susan Walsh / AP
The CEOs of technology companies such as Meta, TikTok, Discord and Snap have been questioned by US senators about the dangers to children and teenagers in online services. The company bosses are accused of not doing enough to combat the dangers that children face when using online platforms, such as from sexual predators or in connection with suicide. At the US Senate hearing, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg apologized to families about the impact of social media on children at the urging of Republican Senator Josh Hawley.
Youth protection should be strengthened
“I'm sorry for what you all went through. No one should have to go through what your families have endured and that is why we are investing so much and we will continue to make an industry-wide effort to ensure that no one has to go through what your families have had to go through,” he said. Last Thursday, Meta announced that it would strengthen the protection of minors in its online networks - the group includes, among others, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Critics have been accusing Meta for years of making it too easy for pedophile users in particular to use its online networks and messenger services to distribute child pornographic material. More than 40 US states have already sued the company because of what they consider to be inadequate protection, particularly of children. The EU Commission has also opened an investigation into the child protection measures of Meta and other digital companies.
"They have blood on their hands"
The US Senate Judiciary Committee convened the company bosses on Wednesday for the meeting entitled “Internet giants and the crisis of child sexual exploitation on the Internet”. Victims who suffered harm as a result of using the services and their families were present at the U.S. Senate hearing. Republican Senators Josh Hawley and Lindsy Graham criticized Mark Zuckerbeg: “You and the other companies have blood on your hands” and they accused him of “your product kills people.”
Zuckerberg said in his opening statement: "We work hard to provide parents and teenagers with support and controls to reduce potential harm." The safety of young people has been a challenge since "the dawn of the Internet," he added. Criminals are constantly developing their strategies.
Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew announced that he wanted to invest more than two billion dollars (around 1.8 billion euros) in “trust and security”. The online service X, formerly Twitter, also announced its own office to combat content about the sexual exploitation of children and other violations of the platform's rules. X CEO Linda Yaccarino said Wednesday that her company believes "that freedom of expression and security can and must coexist."
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