US Senate hearing
Mark Zuckerberg apologizes to the victims of online platforms
Zuckerberg (front) apologizes at Senate hearing
© AFP
At a hearing in the US Senate, Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about the distribution of child pornography. The Facebook founder also addressed the affected parents.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg caused a stir with an apology to families whose children were harmed by online platforms. “I’m sorry for what you all went through,” said the head of the Internet giant Meta on Wednesday to the families sitting in the audience at a Senate hearing in Washington. “No one should have to go through the things your families have endured.”
At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Big Tech and the Internet Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis.” Zuckerberg and the heads of the online companies X (formerly Twitter), Tiktok, Snap and Discord hear serious allegations. “Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the other companies here before us, I know you don’t want this, but you have blood on your hands,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. “You have a product that kills people.”
The hearing focused, among other things, on the sexual exploitation of minors online – and the efforts of online platforms to protect minors. The company bosses are accused of not doing enough to combat the dangers that children face when using online platforms, such as from sexual predators or in connection with suicide. Victims who suffered harm as a result of using the services and their families were present at the U.S. Senate hearing.
Mark Zuckerberg was pressured to apologize
Zuckerberg did not apologize to them of his own free will, but was pressured to do so by Republican Senator Josh Hawley. “There are families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims?” Hawley asked the internet entrepreneur, whose meta group includes Instagram and WhatsApp in addition to the Facebook platform founded 20 years ago. “Do you want to do it now? You’re here.” Zuckerberg then stood up and apologized.
Snap boss Evan Spiegel also apologized for the deaths of minors who bought drugs on Snapchat. “I am sorry that we were unable to prevent these tragedies.”
In his opening remarks, Zuckerberg said Meta was “working hard to provide parents and teens with support and controls to reduce potential harm.” The safety of young people has been a challenge since “the dawn of the Internet,” he added. Criminals are constantly developing their strategies.
X wants to fight child pornography
But senators pointed to internal company documents that show that Zuckerberg had refused to strengthen teams that would track down online threats to teenagers. “The hypocrisy is unbelievable,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told the New York Times. “We keep hearing how important it is to them and that they are working on it, but the documents paint a very different picture.”
Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew announced at the Senate hearing that he wanted to invest more than two billion dollars (around 1.8 billion euros) in “trust and security”. 40,000 employees would work on the topic.
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Technology billionaire Elon Musk’s short message service X had already announced in advance of the Senate hearing that it would set up a team to combat child pornography content. X CEO Linda Yaccarino said Wednesday that her company believes “that freedom of expression and safety can and must coexist.”
Critics have been accusing Meta for years of making it too easy for pedophile users in particular to use its online networks and messenger services to distribute child pornographic material. More than 40 US states have already sued Meta because of what they see as the company’s inadequate protection, particularly of children. The EU Commission has also opened an investigation into the child protection measures of Meta and other digital companies.