'I'm sorry': Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg to families at fiery US Senate hearing on online child safety (WATCH)

By Sunita Iyer | First Published Feb 1, 2024, 8:56 AM IST

During a tense Congressional hearing on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered a stunning apology to families over alleged harm to children through social media.

During a heated session in the US Senate on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg offered apologies to families who claim their children suffered harm from social media platforms. Zuckerberg, overseeing Instagram and Facebook, expressed remorse directly to them, stating that nobody should endure such experiences.

Alongside executives from TikTok, Snap, X, and Discord, he faced nearly four hours of questioning from senators representing both political parties. Lawmakers sought insights into measures being taken to safeguard children's online experiences. The session provided a rare chance for senators to directly grill tech leaders on these pressing issues.

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Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew willingly agreed to testify, whereas the heads of Snap, X (formerly Twitter), and Discord initially declined and were subsequently issued government subpoenas.

Behind the five tech executives sat families who shared stories of their children's self-harm or suicides linked to social media content. Their emotions were palpable throughout the hearing, with audible disapproval when the CEOs entered and applause when lawmakers posed challenging inquiries.

Although the primary focus of the hearing centered on protecting children from online sexual exploitation, senators seized the opportunity to address a broad range of issues with the five powerful executives sworn under oath.

Chew from TikTok faced questioning regarding whether his company shared US users' data with the Chinese government, which he denied.

Chew remarked, "As a father of three young children myself I know the issues that we're discussing today are horrific and the nightmare of every parent." He admitted that his own children do not use TikTok due to the regulations in Singapore, where he resides.

However, it was Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, who faced the most intense scrutiny, appearing before Congress for the eighth time to testify.

At one point, Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked, "Mr Zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking?" when he showed the tech boss an Instagram prompt that warns users they may be about to see child sexual abuse material, but asks if they would like to "see the results anyway".

Zuckerberg said the "basic science behind that" is "it's often helpful to, rather than just blocking it, to help direct them towards something that that could be helpful". He also promised to "personally look into it".

In another exchange with Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Zuckerberg was prompted to offer apologies to the families seated behind him.

He stood up, turned to the audience and said: "I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. 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."

Mark Zuckerberg apologizes to the families who have been harmed by his social media platform, live during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing pic.twitter.com/HK6IR92wZJ

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Central to the hearing was the companies' stance towards legislation progressing through Congress aimed at holding them accountable for content posted on their platforms. This theme was underscored in a tense exchange between Jason Citron of Discord and Republican lawmaker Lindsey Graham.

Graham enumerated several bills concerning online safety currently under consideration in Congress, pressing Citron for his stance on each. Despite providing limited opportunity for response, the Discord CEO seemed to harbor reservations about most of the proposed bills.

Graham concluded, "So here you are - if you're waiting on these guys to solve the problem, we're gonna die waiting".

The executives also disclosed the number of employees tasked with moderating content on their respective platforms. Meta and TikTok, boasting the largest user bases among the represented platforms, reported employing 40,000 moderators each. Snap indicated it had 2,300 moderators, while X stated it had 2,000. Discord, described as smaller in scale, mentioned having "hundreds" of moderators. Discord, being a messaging platform, has previously faced scrutiny regarding its methods for detecting and preventing child abuse throughout its platform.

Following the hearing, a group of parents who attended the session organized a rally outside, with many urging lawmakers to swiftly enact legislation to hold tech firms accountable.

"Just like I did, many parents continue to think that these harms that we're talking about today won't affect their families," said Joann Bogard, whose son Mason died in May 2019. She said he had taken part in a TikTok choking trend.

"These harms are happening overnight to our average kids," she said. "We have the testimonies. Now is the time for our legislators to pass the Kids Online Safety Act".

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