Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Goalpublicly apologized to families present in the U.S. Congress during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee where several social media company executives spoke about the risks that digital platforms can pose to young people.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through. “No one should have to go through the suffering of their families, and that is why we are investing so much and will continue to make efforts across the industry to ensure that no one has to go through the suffering of their families to suffer,” Zuckerberg said during the audience.
Although Zuckerberg expressed regret for what happened to these families, he also defended Meta against allegations of abuse and pointed out that there is no scientific evidence linking social media use to poorer mental health.
“A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences that reviewed more than 300 studies does not support the conclusion that social networks cause changes in adolescent mental health,” said the Meta director.
In his response, Senator Josh Hawley called on billionaire Mark Zuckerberg to “compensate” families whose children were affected by his platforms.
Several youth activists rejected Zuckerberg’s apology and called on the company to “get out of the way” of national regulation.
Photo: EFE
Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t the only social media entrepreneur to comment on the situation
Executives from TikTok, X and other tech companies were also in attendance to defend the impact of social media on teens
Speaking on behalf of X (formerly known as Twitter), its CEO Linda Yaccarino said that “less than 1% of
Photo: EFE
TikTok CEO Shou Chew said he “intends to invest more than $2 billion” in security this year alone. In addition, he emphasized that he has over 40,000 professionals in this area, including child safety specialists.
For his part, Discord CEO Jason Citron explained that they use artificial intelligence to detect criminals on their network.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel commented that while the contents of his application would be deleted by default, copies would remain on file in case “accountability” was needed.
“If this all worked, we wouldn’t be here today,” concluded Democratic Senator Richard Durbin.
Congress has currently passed several bills to protect children, such as the Stop CSAM Act, which aims to combat the spread of child abuse material online, support victims, and increase platform accountability.
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