Sexual predators, Addictive features, Suicide and eating disorders. Unrealistic beauty standards. Bullying. These are just some of the issues young people are dealing with on social media — and children’s advocates and lawmakers say companies are not doing enough to protect them.
As legislators and parents become more concerned about the effects of social media on the lives of young people, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media companies appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee overnight in the US to testify.
Children and parents who claimed they or their kids had been taken advantage of on social media gave recorded testimony to start the hearing. Parents of deceased children silently held up pictures of their departed children during the course of the event, which lasted for hours.
Children and parents who claimed they or their kids had been taken advantage of on social media gave recorded testimony to start the hearing. Parents of deceased children silently held up pictures of their departed children during the course of the event, which lasted for hours.
“They’re responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the committee, said in opening remarks.
“Their design choices, their failures to adequately invest in trust and safety, their constant pursuit of engagement and profit over basic safety have all put our kids and grandkids at risk.”
In a heated question and answer session with Mark Zuckerberg, Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley asked the Meta CEO if he has personally compensated any of the victims and their families for what they have been through.
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