On Wednesday, a group of top U.S. social media executives was asked by the Senate Unified Committee to discuss the mental health risks posed by the hugely popular social media platforms to young people and the failure of their companies to protect children from exploitation and abuse. He was subjected to intense questioning regarding the accusation that he did not. .
Throughout a heated four-hour battle in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the CEOs of some of the world's most widely used digital platforms acknowledged shortcomings and highlighted efforts to improve while pushing back on other criticisms. .
The senators accused the CEOs of letting their lobbying efforts get in the way of federal law, often drawing loud applause from the families of children who died trapped in some of the darkest aspects of these sites. .
And in a remarkable moment, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up and addressed these families, directly apologizing for what they had endured.
However, the public hearing ultimately left major questions unanswered. Even if there is bipartisan agreement among senators, will Congress seek to impose new regulations on these platforms, and if so, for what purpose?
A strong show of support
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday aimed at drumming up support for a federal bill to protect children from the online world, with X's Linda Yaccarino, TikTok's Shu Choo and Snap We also heard from Evan Spiegel of , and Jason Citron of Discord.
The hearing was held amid growing concerns about the risks to young people.
Online sexual exploitation of children is a serious problem in the United States. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, daily online reports of child sexual abuse have increased tenfold over the past decade, reaching 100,000 reports daily by 2023.
There is also growing concern about the impact of social media on mental health. In a recent recommendation by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the country's top doctor warned that there was “not enough evidence to say.” [social media is] It's safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people's mental health. ”
Parents who attended Wednesday's hearing were first-hand evidence of both issues, senators said.
“Mr. Zuckerberg, I know you and the companies in front of us don't mean it, but we have blood on our hands,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said as the hearing began. “There is,” he said.
The comment drew applause from families holding up photos of their children.
“There are products out there that are killing people,” added Graham, a prominent Republican.
Later in the hearing, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley called on Mehta Zuckerberg to apologize directly to his family who were present.
“They're here. You're on national television…do you want to apologize for what you did to these good people?” Hawley pressed.
Zuckerberg, whose company owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, stood up, turned around and called out to his parents.
“It's terrible. No one should have to go through what your family has gone through,” he told them. “That's why we've made such a significant investment and will continue our industry-leading efforts to ensure that no one has to go through what your family has had to go through.”
Illinois Democratic Party Chairman Dick Durbin said online child exploitation is an “American crisis” fueled by rapid changes in technology that are giving predators “powerful new tools” to target children. Stated.
“their [the digital platforms’] Our design choices, our failure to properly invest in trust and safety, and our relentless pursuit of commitment and profit over basic safety are all putting our children and grandchildren at risk.” said in a statement.
Mr Graham acknowledged there were positives to the social media site, but said “the dark side has yet to be addressed”.
“People have taken your idea and turned it into a nightmare for the American people, so it's time to address the dark side,” he said.
In response, CEOs were primarily inclined to highlight the actions they had taken to alleviate these issues. Meta recently announced plans to hide content deemed inappropriate for teens and is pushing to require users to verify their age when downloading the platform on the App Store.
The CEOs of Snap and X both publicly supported the Kids Online Safety Act, a prominent bipartisan bill, during public hearings.
And TikTok announced it will increase its security investment by $2 billion this year.
Of note, however, is the CEO's response to the mental health debate that Zuckerberg was primarily targeted at following reports that an internal study found that Instagram has a negative impact on young women. He repeatedly denied any negative connections.
“So much of our lives are spent on mobile devices and social media that it's important to investigate the impact on teenagers' mental health and wellbeing. I take this very seriously. ” he said in his opening remarks. “Mental health is a complex issue, and the existing body of scientific research does not show a causal link between social media use and poor mental health in young people.”
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff urges Zuckerberg to recognize what Ossoff calls the “inherent dangers” young people face on the internet and his platform. urged Mr.
“There are families here who have lost children. There are families across the country whose children have self-harmed, experienced low self-esteem, or been sold drugs on the internet. It's a dangerous place. “And your home is a dangerous place for children. Do you agree?” Ossoff asked.
Zuckerberg responded, “I think there are harms that we need to work on mitigating,” but said he believes his company's platform is safe for children.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told Zuckerberg that his beliefs should disqualify him from leading the company.
“If you don't think Instagram is harming millions of young people, especially teenagers, and especially young women, then you shouldn't be driving,” he said.
Moving from dialogue to action
Wednesday's hearing marks the first time Snap CEO Spiegel has testified on Capitol Hill in response to allegations that Snapchat harms the mental and physical health of children. It became.
Snapchat is also being sued in a class action lawsuit by several parents in California, many of whom claim they lost their children to fentanyl poisoning and overdoses from pills purchased on Snapchat.
Spiegel said he was “deeply saddened” that his service had been “exploited to cause harm.”
He also discussed his support for the Kids Online Safety Act during Wednesday's hearing. The KOSA bill aims to give people legal recourse if they are harmed by social media companies, and supporters say they hope it will further increase the industry's responsibility to prevent harm. It is said that they are doing so.
“We want to encourage broad industry support for laws that protect children online,” Spiegel said. “No law is perfect, but some traffic rules are better than none.”
Mr. Yaccarino said Mr. X supports KOSA, but Mr. Chu, Mr. Citron, and Mr. Zuckerberg do not intend to support the current bill.
While legislative efforts at the national level have largely failed, state legislatures have introduced more than 100 bills across the country aimed at regulating how children interact with social media.
“The tech industry is not solely to blame for the situation we're in, and those of us in Congress need to look in the mirror,” Durbin said at the hearing, pointing to the failure to advance federal legislation. Stated.
Graham said Republicans are “ready to answer the call.”
“These companies have to be governed or the worst is yet to come,” he said.
But many senators, including KOSA co-sponsor Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, said it's not just a matter of congressional support.
“We've been working on this issue for 10 years. We have an army of lawyers and lobbyists who have fought us every step of the way on this issue,” she told the CEOs. “Are we going to stop lobbying against this and come to the table and work on this?”
Company leaders said they would work together on legislation, but there was little consensus on support for the various bills being pushed by lawmakers.
Ms. Yaccarino of Ta.
Asked if he supported the latter bill, Chu said the spirit of the bill was “consistent with what we want to do” and that he would comply if it becomes law.
Zuckerberg pivoted to Mehta's own legislative proposals, saying he agreed with some “goals” of some bills but not the details.
ABC News' Ayesha Ali, Tenzing Shakya and Becky Worley contributed to this report.
