‘A moment of reckoning’: Senate hearing on sexual exploitation on social media comes to a close
After five tech executives faced four hours of intensive questioning from Congress members, the Senate judiciary hearing on “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis” has come to an end.
Executives in attendance were Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Linda Yaccarino of X (formerly Twitter), Shou Zi Chew of TikTok, Evan Spiegel of Snap, and Jason Citron of Discord.
In closing statements, Senate chair Dick Durbin called for meaningful bipartisan legislation to address the “crisis” of childhood sexual exploitation online.
“Businesses exist by and large to be profitable, and I think we have to get behind that and say, ‘profitability at what cost?’” he said.
Here are the key events from the day:
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Parents of children who died by suicide after experiencing online harms packed the Senate for the hearing on Wednesday. Senator Lindsey Graham said the event drew “the largest [audience] I’ve seen in this room”. Opening statements in the hearing included voices of children and parents of children affected.
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In opening statements, executives enumerated tools on their platforms meant to protect children and give parents more control over the user experience. Senators challenged these assertions in their questioning, stating that the measures are ineffective and insufficient.
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In his first remarks, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cast doubt on the relationship between social media use and a decline in mental health. “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health,” he said.
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Senators repeatedly targeted Section 230, a legal protection that shields social media firms from liability for content posted on their platforms. They promoted a number of bills that would take aim at these protections, including the Kids Online Safety Act (Kosa).
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X, formerly Twitter, became the first tech firm to publicly endorse the Stop CSAM Act, a bill introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) that would remove legal immunity for civil claims against internet companies over child sex abuse material. CEO Linda Yaccarino also announced support of Kosa, joining Snapchat parent company Snap.
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Zuckerberg apologized directly to families of online harm victims in Senate hearing, standing from his seat and turning to a crowd holding photos of children who have died by suicide after experiencing online harms. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” he said.
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Snap CEO Evan Spiegel also apologized to families, though he did not turn to face them as Zuckerberg did. In response to questions about children who have died from drugs bought on Snapchat, he said: “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”.
Key events
The Guardian view on online child protection: the web needs more health and safety
The Senate hearing over alleged online harms to children has come to a close. In final statements, chairman Durbin said that America has reached “a moment of reckoning” regarding the unchecked power of Big Tech and that legislation must be passed to rein it in.
“As parents and grandparents we know what daughters and sons and others are going through they cannot cope,” he said. “They cannot handle this issue on their own. They’re counting on us, as much as they’re counting on the industry, to do the responsible thing. “
Senator Blackburn took a hard stance against Mark Zuckerberg, asking why intentionally predatory content does not violate platform standards, citing a June 2023 article from the Wall Street Journal investigating how Instagram connects “a vast pedophile network”.
The report revealed that Instagram was recommending hashtags for children to sell CSAM of themselves. Blackburn called Meta “the largest sex trafficking organization in the world”. Zuckerberg responded agitatedly, saying: “Senator, that’s ridiculous”.
Blackburn closed by stating Meta and other companies have an obligation to work with Congress, stating that they have not complied voluntarily in the past.
“You have an army of lawyers who fight us on any bipartisan legislation,” she said. “Are you going to stop lobbying against the legislation considered in this hearing? You need to come to the table – kids are dying.”
In her line of questioning, Senator Marsha Blackburn cited an internal email at Meta revealed as part of a lawsuit from US attorneys general that stated product teams that referred to younger users in terms of their lifetime value of being “roughly $270 per teenager”. She acknowledge teenagers in the crowd for the hearing wearing shirts that read “I’m worth more than $270,” which elicited applause from the crowd.
Spiegel apologizes to parents of children who obtained deadly drugs via Snapchat
Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) asked Snap CEO Evan Spiegel: “There are a number of parents whose children have been able to access illegal drugs on your platform. What do you say to those parents?”
Parents over more than 60 teenagers filed suit in late 2023 against Snap for allegedly facilitating their children’s acquisition of drugs that were used in overdoses.
Unlike Zuckerberg, Spiegel did not turn to face the families in attendance. He said, “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.” He highlighted Snapchat’s education efforts to convey the message of “one pill can kill”.
His full apology below:
We work very hard to block all search terms related to drugs from our platform. We proactively look for and detect drug-related content. We remove it from our platform, preserve the evidence, and then we refer it to law enforcement for action. We’ve worked together with nonprofits and with families on education campaigns, because the scale the fentanyl epidemic is extraordinary. Over 100,000 people lost their lives last year and we believe people need to know that one pill can kill. That campaign was viewed more than 260 million times on Snapchat.
The hearing is back on, starting with questioning from Senator John Neely Kennedy who said the reforms and tools created by social media firms are not sufficient and action from Congress is needed.
“Your companies are going to need the government’s help,” he said. “Any reforms you do on your own are like paint on rotten wood.”
Katie McQue
Meta is the world’s ‘single largest marketplace for paedophiles’, says New Mexico attorney general
In an interview with the Guardian, New Mexico’s top legal official Raúl Torrez talks about taking Facebook and Instagram’s parent company to court.
In December 2023, Torrez launched a major lawsuit against Meta, claiming that the company has allowed its social media platforms to become marketplaces for child predators.
Torrez tells the Guardian he believes that what his own investigation has already uncovered is “just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how widespread and well known this problem was inside the company”. He said he expects further details to emerge about its knowledge of child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
The hearing is taking a 10-minute recess. More updates soon …
Republican senator Tom Cotton used his time on the floor of the Senate hearing to fire off a series of xenophobic questions to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
Echoing a prior line of questioning from Senator Ted Cruz, he asked Chew if he knows “what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989”, alleging that the China-owned app censors related content. He also asked Chew if he believes Chinese president Xi Jinping is a dictator.
“I’m not going to comment on any world leaders, it’s not appropriate,” Chew said. Cotton responded by questioning if Chew believes he would lose his job if he says anything negative about the Chinese Communist party.
“Are you scared that you’ll be arrested and disappeared the next time you go to mainland China?” he asked.
Cottton pointedly asked Chew “of what nation are you a citizen?” and if he has ever applied for American or Chinese citizenship. The TikTok CEO replied, exasperated, that he is from Singapore.
Tom Cotton: “Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: “Senator, I’m Singaporean. No!”
Cotton: “Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?”
Chew: “No, Senator. Again, I’m Singaporean!” pic.twitter.com/5Wa72aJIr9
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 31, 2024
Chew repeatedly stated that content critical of China and “any other country” can be freely found on TikTok.
Zuckerberg and Hawley spar over social media’s effects on mental health after Meta CEO says the science isn’t there
Senator Josh Hawley targeted Mark Zuckerberg over claims in his opening statements that there is not scientific evidence that suggests there are widespread mental health impacts from social media.
“I think it’s important to look at the science,” said Zuckerberg. “I know people widely talked about this as if that is something that’s already been proven, and I think that the bulk of the scientific evidence does not support that.”
At the start of the hearing, Zuckerberg said, “The existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health.”
Hawley cited Meta’s own internal research, leaked by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, that showed Instagram has made body image issues worse for one in three girls. Another Facebook study of teenagers in the UK and the US, more than 40% of Instagram users who said they felt “unattractive” said the feeling began while using the app.
“Your own study says that you make life worse for one in three teenage girls, and you’re here testifying to us in public that there’s no link,” he said. “For years you’ve been coming in public and testifying under oath that there’s absolutely no link, while internally you know full well your product is a disaster for teenagers.”
