US lawmakers are currently working on legislation to provide greater protection for minors on social media, which is increasingly used by sex offenders. As part of the preparation of new legislation, a hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee was held on the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
The heads of large social media platforms were asked questions – Jason Citron (head of Discord), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok), Evan Spiegel (Snap) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta). The latter, of course, aroused the greatest interest among senators.
The hearing began with the presentation of an extremely emotional video in which victims talked about being victims of online sexual abuse. Then the senators told the stories of minors who took their own lives after their photos fell into the hands of sex offenders.
Zuckerberg repents before the Senate. “You have blood on your hands”
– You have a product that kills people – Republican senator Lindsey Graham said directly to Mark Zuckerberg. He also stated that the Meta boss has “blood on his hands”.
Is there any reason we shouldn’t sue your company?
asked another Republican senator, Josh Hawley. He also asked whether Zuckerberg wanted to apologize to the families of the victims present in the room. The American billionaire turned towards them and said:
I’m sorry for everything you had to go through. No one should have to go through what happened to your families.
Zuckerberg also stated that their experiences are one of the reasons Meta has invested so much “to ensure that no one ever again has to go through the experiences that your families had to go through.”
Senators from the Democratic Party also had harsh words for the leaders of the largest social networking sites, emphasizing that they are not doing enough to protect children online.
Discord is being used to groom, kidnap and exploit children. Instagram has helped connect and promote a pedophile ring, and Snapchat’s disappearing messages have been exploited by criminals who financially sexualize young victims
said Senator Dick Durbin.
In recent months, the Meta company has been facing lawsuits from subsequent American states, which accuse it of intentionally designing features on Instagram and Facebook that make children addicted to these platforms, and at the same time failing to protect children from online sex offenders.
Source: Gazeta
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