On Wednesday, lawmakers condemned the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Mushrooms.
In a highly charged 3.5-hour hearing, members of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee raised their voices and repeatedly criticized the five tech leaders – who run online services popular with teenagers and younger children – for prioritizing profits over well-being teenagers. Some said the companies had “blood on their hands” and that users were “dying waiting” for them to make changes to protect children. At one point, lawmakers compared the tech companies to cigarette makers.
“Every parent in America is afraid of the garbage directed at our children,” said Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas.
The tech chiefs, some of whom appeared after being forced to do so by subpoena, said they had invested billions to strengthen security measures on their platforms. Some said they supported a bill that would strengthen privacy and parental controls for children, while others pointed to the mistakes of competitors. All managers emphasized that they were parents themselves.
In a heated exchange with Sen. Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up and addressed dozens of parents of online child sexual exploitation victims.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve all been through,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “No one should have to go through what your families have endured.” He did not address whether Meta’s platforms played a role in that suffering, saying the company is investing in efforts to prevent such experiences.
The bipartisan hearing highlighted growing concerns about the impact of technology on children and young people. Last year, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, blames social media as a cause of a mental health crisis among young people. More than 105 million online images, videos and materials related to child sexual abuse were reported in 2023 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the federally designated clearinghouse for the images. Parents blame the platforms for fueling cyberbullying and child suicides.
The issue unites Republicans and Democrats, with lawmakers pushing for a crackdown on how Silicon Valley companies treat their youngest and most vulnerable users. Taking up an issue that has angered parents, some lawmakers have called for action and introduced bills to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material and hold platforms accountable for protecting young people.
Tech giants face increasing national and global scrutiny over their impact on children. Some states have passed laws requiring social media services to verify the age of their users or take other measures to protect young people, although those rules have faced legal challenges. Online security laws have also been passed in the European Union and Great Britain.
The White House also commented on Wednesday. “There is now indisputable evidence that social media is contributing to the mental health crisis among young people,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary.
But if history is anything to go by, Wednesday’s confrontation with tech executives ultimately won’t achieve much. Meta executives have testified 33 times since 2017 on topics such as election interference by foreign agents, antitrust law and the role of social media in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 — but no federal law has been passed holding the tech companies accountable . Dozens of bills failed due to partisan disputes over details and lobbying efforts by the tech industry.
David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University School of Law and former head of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection division, compared Congress’s actions on technology to the cartoon “Peanuts.”
“Congress has constantly resisted technology legislation that seems important, but I feel like Charlie Brown — every time he wants to kick the football, Lucy takes it away,” he said.
The New York Times has found that the federal government has also failed to implement existing laws that could provide more resources to combat online child abuse. Notably, law enforcement funding has not kept pace with the rapid increase in online reports of abuse, despite Congress being empowered to release more money.
On Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg testified before Congress for the eighth time. TikTok CEO Shou Chew was back as a witness less than a year after appearing at a hearing. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Discord CEO Jason Citron testified for the first time after lawmakers subpoenaed them.
Lawmakers have been focused on the harmful effects of social media on children since 2021, when a Meta whistleblower, Frances Haugen, revealed internal documents showing the company knew its Instagram platform was exacerbating body image issues among teenagers. The Senate Judiciary Committee has since held several hearings with technology executives, sexual exploitation experts and others to draw attention to the dangerous activities for children online.
Before the hearing began on Wednesday, lawmakers released internal emails to Meta executives, including Mr. Zuckerberg, that showed his company had rejected calls to increase resources to combat child safety problems.
The hearing, held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, began with a video of child sexual exploitation victims saying the tech companies had failed them. In a rare show of unity, Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee took turns accusing tech leaders of knowing about the harm children suffer on their platforms.
“Corporations’ constant pursuit of commitment and profit over basic safety puts our children and grandchildren at risk,” said Senator Dick Durbin, the committee chairman and a Democrat from Illinois.
At one point, Senator Hawley said to Mr. Zuckerberg, “Your product is killing people.”
Catching the most attention were Messrs. Zuckerberg and Chew, who were admonished by lawmakers for not supporting child safety legislation. After lawmakers pressed Mr. Spiegel about the problem of drug sales on Snapchat, he apologized to parents whose children died of fentanyl overdoses after purchasing the drugs through the platform.
“I am so sorry that we were unable to prevent these tragedies,” he said, adding that Snap blocks drug-related search terms and works with law enforcement.
Lawmakers also focused on proposals that would expose the platforms to lawsuits by repealing a 1996 law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, that shields internet companies from liability for the content of their websites.
“Nothing will change unless we open the courtroom doors,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota. “People talk about money even more than we do up here.”
At times, lawmakers veered into areas that had nothing to do with child safety. Mr Chew in particular faced questions about how Beijing-based TikTok owner ByteDance handles US users’ data. He also came under pressure over a report that a TikTok lobbyist in Israel resigned this week amid allegations that the platform discriminated against Israelis.
What stood out at the hearing was the most popular app for teenagers: YouTube. According to the Pew Research Center, seven out of 10 teens use YouTube daily. TikTok is used daily by 58 percent of teenagers, followed by Snap at 51 percent and Instagram at 47 percent.
According to a report prepared by Google, YouTube reported more than 631,000 pieces of content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2022.
Apple wasn’t there either. The company has angered child protection groups by backing away from its 2021 promise to scan iPhones for content that is abusive to children.
YouTube and Apple were not invited to the hearing. A Judiciary Committee spokesman said the five executives who testified represented a diverse group of companies.
Weeks before Wednesday’s hearing, some of the tech companies announced changes to their services for children. Meta introduced stricter controls for teen direct messaging and stronger parental controls. Snap announced its support for the Kids Online Safety Act, proposed legislation to limit data collection from children and tighten parental controls on social media.
Outside the Capitol on Wednesday, a nonprofit critical of Big Tech displayed cardboard cutouts of Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Chew sitting on a pile of cash and clinking glasses of champagne. In the hearing room, parents held up photos of victims of child sexual exploitation online.
Mary Rodee, a mother in the hearing room, said she lost Riley, her 15-year-old son, to sexual exploitation on Facebook Messenger in 2021. Since then, she has been fighting for laws to protect children online.
“Companies aren’t doing enough,” she said. “Enough talked.”
Kate Conger, Michael H. Keller, Mike Isaac, Sapna Maheshwari, Natasha Singer and Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.
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2024-02-01 00:20:15
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