In a stunning moment during a marathon Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood and apologized to an overflowing audience of families of victims of harms presented by social media platforms, holding pictures of their loved ones lost.
Behind the witnesses, which included the CEOs of major Big Tech platforms like Snap, X, TikTok and Discord, were families of victims who unknowingly bought fentanyl off social media and died or were victims of eating disorders, self-harm and suicide because of harmful social media content.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., grilled Zuckerberg after the tech giant leader tried to dodge questions about the responsibility of his platforms' effect on users. Internal Meta studies showed that high percentages of young girls were exposed to unwanted nudity, sexual advances and self-harm content in just one week.
"So, you didn’t take any action, you didn’t fire anybody, you haven’t compensated a single victim. Let me ask you this. There are families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to apologize now?" Hawley pressed as members of the audience applauded.
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Zuckerberg stood from his seat and spoke directly to the audience, "I’m sorry for everything you’ve all been through. No one should have to go through the things that your families suffered."
He added that his company will continue investing in efforts to protect users: "This is why we’ve invested so much … and will continue through industry-leading efforts to make sure that no [one has] to go through what your families have had to suffer."
"For years you’ve been … testifying under oath that there’s absolutely no link, your product is wonderful, the science is nascent, full speed ahead, while internally you know that your product is a disaster for teenagers." Hawley said.
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Wednesday’s hearing was focused on how Congress can better regulate the tech companies and combat online child sexual exploitation.
A large focus of the hearing that continued through the afternoon was the question of legal liability of the companies for hosting and failing to shut down such content.
A number of bipartisan bills have been crafted by members on the committee, including the Kids Online Safety Act and the Stop CSAM Act, but have been buffeted by lobbyists of the tech companies – a point of contention during the hearing.
