Video | ‘You have blood on your hands’: Tech CEO tells US Senate child safety hearing

Several U.S. lawmakers grilled the heads of the largest social media companies, including Meta, on Wednesday, accusing the platforms of prioritizing profits over safety measures to protect children.

“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and our previous companies, I know you didn’t mean it, but you have blood on your hands,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. “Your product kills people.” Zuckerberg testified alongside X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Discord CEO Jason Citron.

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, cited statistics from a nonprofit group that show a sharp increase in financial “sextortion” in which predators trick minors into sending sexually explicit messages. photos and videos. “The disturbing growth in child sexual exploitation is driven by one thing: changes in technology,” Durbin said at the hearing.

“Apologise directly to them”

At the start of the hearing, the committee played a video in which children described their victimization on social media. “I was sexually exploited on Facebook,” says one child, who appears in shadow in the video. In the hearing room, dozens of parents held up photos of children they said had been harmed by social media.

During the hearing, Senator Josh Hawley asked Zuckerberg to apologize directly to them, and when Zuckerberg turned to address them, several people again held up photos of the children. Zuckerberg expressed regret for their experience and pledged to work to prevent it from happening to others, but did not take responsibility for enabling the abuse as Hawley suggested.

Stop CSAM Act

In a tense exchange, the committee was shown copies of internal emails showing Zuckerberg rejected requests from Meta’s top policy executive to hire between 45 and 84 engineers to make security improvements. X’s Yaccarino said the company supports the STOP CSAM Act, a bill introduced by Durbin that would hold tech companies accountable for child sexual abuse material and allow victims to sue tech platforms and app stores. The bill is one of several aimed at addressing child safety concerns.

X (formerly Twitter) has received some criticism since Elon Musk purchased the service and relaxed its moderation policies. Earlier this week, the company blocked searches for pop star Taylor Swift after fake pornographic images of her spread on the platform. The latest hearing also marks TikTok CEO Chew’s first appearance before U.S. lawmakers since March, when the Chinese short-video app faced tough questions, including some suggesting the app was psychologically damaging to children. healthy.

Chew revealed that more than 170 million Americans use TikTok every month, 20 million more than the company said last year. Under questioning from Graham, he said TikTok would spend more than $2 billion on trust and security. Republican Senator Ted Cruz pressed Zuckerberg to focus on a warning screen on Instagram that warned users an image could show child sexual abuse but still allowed them to see the image. “Mr. Zuckerberg, what on earth are you thinking about?” Cruz said.

(Institutional investment)