BBC News |
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised to families who say their children had been harmed by social media, during a fiery hearing in the US Senate.
Mr Zuckerberg – who runs Instagram and Facebook – turned to them and said “no one should go through” what they had.
He and the bosses of TikTok, Snap, X and Discord were questioned for almost four hours by senators from both parties.
Lawmakers wanted to know what they are doing to protect children online.
It was a rare opportunity for the US senators to question tech bosses.
Mr Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew voluntarily agreed to testify – but the heads of Snap, X (formerly Twitter) and Discord initially refused and were sent government-issued subpoenas.
Behind the five tech bosses sat families who said their children had self-harmed or killed themselves as a result of social media content.
They made their feelings known throughout the hearing, hissing when the CEOs entered as well as applauding when lawmakers asked tough questions.
While the hearing mostly focused on the protection of children from online sexual exploitation, the questions varied widely as the senators took advantage of having five powerful executives sitting in front of them under oath.
TikTok’s Mr Chew was asked whether his company shared US users’ data with the Chinese government, which he denied.
He said “as a father of three young children myself I know the issues that we’re discussing today are horrific and the nightmare of every parent” – and admitted his own children do not use TikTok because of the rules where he lives in Singapore.
Comments are closed.