“I'm sorry for everything you've been through. No one should have to go through the things your families went through,” he said, adding that Meta continues to invest and work on “industry-wide efforts” to protect children.
Hawley continued to press Zuckerberg, asking him if he would take personal responsibility for the damage his company caused.
Zuckerberg stayed on message and reiterated that Meta's mission is to “build industry-leading tools” and empower parents.
“To make money,” Hawley interrupted.
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 the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit group that showed that financial “sextortion,” in which a predator tricks a minor into sending explicit photos and videos, has risen dramatically in the past year.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg addresses the crowd during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss child safety. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and X CEO Linda Yaccarino listen.credit: AP
“This alarming growth in child sexual exploitation is driven by one thing: changes in technology,” Durbin said during the hearing.
As the session began, the committee played a video clip in which children spoke about their victimization on social media platforms.
“I was being sexually exploited on Facebook,” one of the children said in the video, which appeared in the shadows.
In the hearing room, dozens of parents stood waiting for the CEOs to enter, carrying pictures of their children.
X's Yaccarino said the company supports legislation introduced by Durbin that seeks to hold tech companies accountable for child sexual abuse material and would allow victims to sue tech platforms and app stores.
The Enhancing Transparency and Commitments to Protect Children Suffering from Maltreatment and Abuse Bill is one of several projects aimed at addressing child safety. None of them became law.
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X, formerly known as Twitter, has come under fire since Elon Musk bought the platform and relaxed its moderation policies. This week, the company blocked searches for pop singer Taylor Swift after fake sexual photos of Swift spread on the platform.
Wednesday also marked TikTok CEO Chew's first appearance before US lawmakers since March when the Chinese-owned short video app company faced harsh questions, including some suggesting the app harms children's mental health.
“We make careful product design choices to help make our app inhospitable to those who seek to harm teens,” Chiu said, adding that TikTok’s community guidelines strictly prohibit anything that puts “teens at risk of exploitation or other harm — and we enforce them vigorously.” “
Chiu revealed that more than 170 million Americans use TikTok monthly — 20 million more than the company reported last year.
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Under questioning, Graham said TikTok would spend more than $2 billion on trust and safety efforts, but declined to specify how that number compared to the company's total revenue.
Senator Ted Cruz questioned Zuckerberg about warning screens on Instagram alerting users that an image may show child sexual abuse, but he allowed them to see the image.
“Mr. Zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking?” Cruz said.
Zuckerberg responded that it might be helpful to redirect users to resources instead of blocking content, adding that the company would follow up with more information about the notice.
He confirmed earlier in the hearing that the company had no plans to move forward with an earlier idea to create a children's version of Instagram.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Wednesday questioned what she said was inaction in the tech industry, comparing it to the response seen when a panel blew off a Boeing plane earlier this month.
“When a Boeing plane lost its door in flight several weeks ago, no one questioned the decision to ground the fleet. … So why don't we take the same kind of decisive action on the danger of these platforms when we know these children are dying?'' Klobuchar said.
Reuters, AFP
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