'Sorry for everything': Zuckerberg to families at US Senate hearing
During a US Senate hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology to families, affected by the negative consequences of social media on children. While being questioned by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Zuckerberg expressed his remorse to the families present, stating, "I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered." The hearing kicked off with a video featuring children sharing their experiences of being bullied on social media.
Senators address bullying and extortion on social media
Senators shared heart-wrenching stories of young individuals who took their own lives, after being blackmailed for money by sexual predators who obtained their photos. In a heated exchange, Senator Hawley confronted Zuckerberg, saying, "Your product is killing people," referring to Meta's ownership of Facebook and Instagram. The serious tone of the hearing emphasized the need for solutions to prevent further harm caused by social media platforms to children.
Zuckerberg's response to Senator Ted Cruz
Republican Senator Ted Cruz asked Zuckerberg, "What the hell were you thinking?" This was after he showed the latter an Instagram prompt warning users, they might be about to see child sexual abuse material, but asking whether they would like to "see the results anyway." In response, the tech boss claimed the "basic science behind that" is "it's often helpful to, rather than just blocking it, to help direct them towards something that could be helpful."
Eighth appearance on Capitol Hill
Wednesday's hearing was not the first time that Zuckerberg went head-to-head with lawmakers. This marked the Meta top boss's eighth appearance on Capitol Hill, since his first testimony back in 2018.
Top bosses of these companies also attended the hearing
Zuckerberg was not the only one to attend the Senate hearing focused on digital safety (including sexual exploitation of children). X's Linda Yaccarino, Discord's Jason Citron, Snap's Evan Spiegel, and TikTok's Shou Zi Chew also apprised lawmakers, about their respective platforms' steps to safeguard youngsters. Notably, while Zuckerberg and Zi Chew voluntarily testified, Citron, Spiegel, and Yaccarino had initially refused, but were forced after being sent government-issued subpoenas.
Meta has 40,000 content moderators
At Capitol Hill, the company heads disclosed the number of people they hired for content moderation on their platforms. Meta and TikTok, who had the largest number of users among the platforms represented, said they had 40,000 moderators, respectively. Meanwhile, Snap said it had 2,300, X's number stood at 2,000, and Discord had "hundreds" of moderators (the number remains unspecified).
