The CEOs of leading tech companies were reprimanded by the US senators for the harm caused to young people through their social media platforms.
In a hearing, titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis”, held Wednesday, the chief executives of some of the biggest tech firms were grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee for failing to protect children. The accusations primarily revolved around sexual exploitation and grooming and procurement of illegal substances by young people through social networking platforms.
The hearing was attended by Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta Platforms; Evan Spiegel of Snap Inc., which owns Snapchat; Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X (formerly Twitter); Shou Zi Chew of TikTok; and Jason Citron, the chief executive of Discord.
The hearing came in response to the lawsuit filed in 2023 against Snap by the parents of more than 60 children. The class-action accused Snapchat of enabling children to acquire drugs, which led to their deaths from overdoses.
The hearing witnessed an apology from Zuckerberg to the parents holding up photos of their children, who lost their lives as a result of harassment and sexual exploitation on social media platforms. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” said Zuckerberg, facing the parents.
“No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
Zuckerberg faced some of the toughest queries from the senators, reports by international publications suggest, with his popular platforms, Facebook and Instagram, turning the focal point of a heated exchange on “sex trafficking” and “sextortion” during the hearing. (Sextortion refers to predators obtaining sexually explicit photos or videos of a minor through deceptive tricks).
Zuckerberg called the accusations “ridiculous”, and did not take responsibility for the abuse faced by victims on Meta platforms.
Spiegel, the CEO of Snap Inc., also apologised to the parents in the chamber. “I’m so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies,” Spiegel said. “We work very hard to block all search terms related to drugs on our platform.”
The committee also pressed the CEOs on legislation to regulate content on social media platforms and questioned them about their moderation mechanisms, particularly the number of moderators at each firm and the recent layoffs that might have impacted the well-being oversight at the firms.
The number of moderators working in the trust and safety divisions at the firms under scrutiny are as follows: 40,000 at Meta, 2,300 at X, 40,000 at TikTok, and 2,000 at Snap. The Discord CEO did not give a definite answer, citing the relatively smaller size of his platform.
As part of the solutions to ensure increased child safety on social media, one of the senators proposed introducing more legislative frameworks to oversee tech companies, improving industry standards, and reforming Section 230 (more on Section 30 below), and establishing a separate government body tasked with regulating tech conglomerates.
TikTok’s Chew was grilled on the app’s potential ties to the Chinese government, which have sparked widespread concerns over possible transfer of sensitive citizen data in both Europe and the US.
The reports of the hearing surfaced in November 2023, when the senate committee issued notices to Yaccarino, Spiegel, and Citron to testify before the Congress after “unsuccessful negotiations”. The reports suggested that Chew and Zuckerberg were already expected to appear at the hearing voluntarily.
Section 230 as stated by the US Department of Justice
First, it addresses unclear and inconsistent moderation practices that limit speech and go beyond the text of the existing statute. Second, it addresses the proliferation of illicit and harmful content online that leaves victims without any civil recourse. Taken together, the Department’s legislative package provides a clear path forward on modernizing Section 230 to encourage a safer and more open internet.
Full context here
