US Congress questions tech chiefs over child protection

Executives from Meta (Facebook, Instagram), X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Discord and Snap appear before the US Senate this Wednesday to talk about the dangers of social networks for children and adolescents.

They are accused of not doing enough to limit the risks of these platforms, such as sexual predators or teen suicide prevention.

Several victims attended the session “Big Tech and the crisis of online child sexual exploitation”, convened by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Mister Zuckerberg, you and the companies in front of us, I know it is not your intention, but you have blood on your hands. They have a product that is killing people“Senator Lindsey Graham told managers.

In addition to Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino from xShou Zi Chew TikTokEvan Spiegel of Snap and Jason Citron of Discord.

“We work hard to offer parents and teens support and controls that reduce potential harm.” Zuckerberg, founder of Meta, assured the commission in his opening speech.

“Keeping young people safe online has been a challenge since the dawn of the internet, and as criminals evolve their tactics, we need to evolve our defenses too.”he added.

TikTok’s Chew said he has three young children and knows very well that these issues “They are horrible and every parent’s nightmare.”.

“I intend to invest more than US$2 billion in trust and security. This year alone, we have 40,000 security professionals working on this issueChew reported.

Meta also noted that 40,000 of its employees work in online security and that $20 billion has been invested since 2016 to make the platform more secure.

Before appearing, Meta and X announced new measures in anticipation of a heated session.

Meta stated that it will block direct messages sent to young teenagers by strangers.

By default, those under 16 can now only receive messages or be added to group chats by people they already follow or are connected to.

Meta has also tightened content restrictions for teens on Instagram and Facebook, making it harder for them to view posts that talk about suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.

More rules

The senators cited internal Meta documents showing that Zuckerberg refused to bolster teams dedicated to tracking online dangers to teens.

“The hypocrisy is amazing“Senator Richard Blumenthal told The New York Times.

These documents are part of a lawsuit by some 40 states against Meta in which it is claimed that the company allows users under 13 years of age to enter Instagram, and that it only deactivates a portion of those accounts.

The lawsuits also accuse Meta of hiding internal studies that demonstrate harm to Instagram and Facebook users.

Under US law, web platforms are largely protected from legal liability for content shared on their site.

Congressmen are in favor of establishing more regulations.

One of the bills, for example, attempts to protect children from algorithms that can trigger anxiety or depression.

Another proposal is to require social media platforms to verify the age of account holders and completely prohibit access to children under 13 years of age.

X also announced last week that it is creating a team to remove child sexual exploitation content and other violations of the platform’s rules.

When Elon Musk first acquired Twitter in 2022 he imposed huge staff cuts that saw the company’s security teams decimated.

“X believes that freedom of expression and platform security can and should coexist”Yaccarino told the panel.