Social media platform executives participated in a hearing organized by the US Senate Judiciary Committee and answered senators' questions on preventing child sexual abuse.
Mark Zuckerberg from Meta (Facebook), Linda Yaccarino from X, Shou Zi Chew from TikTok, Jason Citron from Discord and Evan Spiegel from Snap participated in the session, which lasted about 4 hours.
Senators complained that the executives of social media platforms did not fully support the law on the prevention of child abuse and argued that this law should be passed and that these executives should be held accountable.
However, many senators also underlined that no legislation to regulate online platforms has been passed in the US for years.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, pointing to the families of social media victims in the hall, argued that platform managers are guilty of not taking the necessary measures.
"YOU HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS"
Graham called Meta CEO Zuckerber "You have blood on your hands" and stated that the legal regulation titled "Section 230", which protects social media platforms from being sued in the US, should be abolished immediately.On the other hand, another Republican Senator Josh Hawley said that the sexual abuse of children and the encouragement of young people to drugs and similar bad habits could not be prevented on these platforms.
Hawley said Zuckerberg should personally apologize to the families of the victims. Zuckerberg then stood up and turned to the families in the hall and said that he was sorry for those who lost their lives due to online platforms and apologized to the families for this.
THEY ARGUED THAT TIKTOK SHOULD BE BANNED
On the other hand, both Graham and Hawley argued that TikTok is linked to the Chinese government and should be banned in America.
TikTok CEO Chew denied the allegations and argued that they are just like any other company doing business in China and that they are as sensitive about personal data privacy as any other company.
Senators stated that both Congress, social media platforms and the American public should strongly support the "Children's Online Safety" bill and asked for unconditional support from the CEOs in the hall.
After the session, the executives of the social media platforms quickly left the room and did not respond to questions.
