Zuckerberg Apologizes To Parents Of Victims In A Very Heated US Senate Hearing
“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” Zuckerberg remarked to the parents who held up photos of their children who have died following sexual exploitation or harassment on social media such as Facebook. “No one should go through the things 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.”
The apology, however, did not seem to gel with what the Meta CEO had stated during his opening remarks. “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a casual link between using social media and young people having worse mental health,” Zuckerberg remarked.
Zuckerberg’s apology came after a tirade from Senator Josh Hawley, who berated Zuckerberg, remarking and asking, “There’s families of victims here today. Have you apologized?” As Zuckerberg stammered a moment, Hawley interrupted him, asking, “Would you like to do so now? They’re here, you’re on national television, would you like to apologize to the victims?” Hawley then told the parents of victims in the Senate audience to “Show him the pictures.”
Hawley was not alone in the disdain for Zuckerberg and the other CEOs in attendance. Senator Marsha Blackburn told the Meta CEO, “It appears that [Meta] is trying to be the premiere sex trafficking site in this country.” While Zuckerberg called the accusation “ridiculous,” Sen Lindsay Graham followed up by remarking, “You have a product that is killing people.” Graham also accused social media firms of “destroying lives, and threatening democracy itself,” before adding, “I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands.”
The line of defense that Zuckerberg seemed to go back to over and over during the hearing was that “We’re [Meta] committed to protecting young people from abuse on our services, but this is an ongoing challenge.” He added, “As we improve defenses in one area, criminals shift their tactics, and we have to come up with new responses.”
The Senate hearing highlighted proposed bills aimed at protecting children online, with the Stop CSAM Act taking center stage. Snap Inc. previously endorsed the bill, with X CEO Yaccarino stating for the first time at the hearing that X will also endorse it. Senator Dick Durbin introduced the Stop CSAM Act that would remove legal immunity for civil claims against internet companies over child sex abuse material. Yaccarino also announced that X would be endorsing another piece of proposed legislation called Kids Online Safety Act (Kosa), which Snap Inc. has pledged support of as well.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel joined Mark Zuckerberg in apologizing to families. However, Spiegel did not turn to face the families as Zuckerberg had. Spiegel responded to a question concerning children dying from drugs bought on Snapchat, “I’m so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies. We work very hard to block all search terms related to drugs on our platform.”
