WASHINGTON: US senators on Wednesday grilled the biggest social media companies, saying they had failed to do enough to protect children from sexual predators on their platforms, and said Congress must quickly pass legislation. The hearing marks the latest effort by lawmakers to address parents’ concerns that tech firms put profits over making sure their platforms do not harm children.
“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg testified along with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Discord CEO Jason Citron.
Senator Dick Durbin, the judiciary committee’s Democratic chairman, cited statistics that showed financial “sextortion”, in which a predator tricks a minor into sending explicit photos and videos, had skyrocketed last year. “This disturbing growth in child sexual exploitation is driven by one thing: changes in technology,” he said.
X’s Yaccarino said the company supported the STOP CSAM Act, legislation introduced by Durbin that seeks to hold tech companies accountable for child sexual abuse material and would allow victims to sue tech platforms. The bill is one of several aimed at addressing child safety. None have become law.
Chew said TikTok would spend over $2 billion on safety efforts, but declined to say how the figure compared to the company’s revenue. Zuckerberg reiterated that the company had no plans to move forward with a previous idea to create a kids version of Instagram.