Tensions in the American Senate/ Leaders of social platforms are harshly criticized

2024-02-01 16:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Tensions in the American Senate/ Leaders of social platforms are harshly

Sexual harassment, suicide, unrealistic beauty standards and bullying are some of the issues that young people face on social media platforms. Child protection activists and US lawmakers say social media companies are not doing enough to protect children. Executives from Meta, TikTok, X and others testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as lawmakers and parents grow increasingly concerned about the effects of social media on children.

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing began with taped testimony from children and parents who say they or their children have been exploited by social media. During the session, which lasted several hours, the parents of the children who committed suicide due to bullying on social media, silently held the pictures of the dead children.

In a tense exchange with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Republican Senator Josh Hawley asked Mr Zuckerberg whether he would compensate the victims' families for their suffering.

"I don't think he will do that," Mr. Zuckerberg replied.

"We have several families of the victims here. Are you going to apologize to them?” Senator Hawley asked.

Zuckerberg stood up and addressed the families of the victims, who held up pictures of their dead children.

"I am sorry for your suffering. No one should have to deal with the things that have caused your families suffering," Mr. Zuckerberg said, adding that Meta is making large-scale investments to protect children.

But child rights activists and parents point out that neither social media company is doing enough to protect children.

“How can you expect people here in the audience to believe that we're going to help their families if we don't have a system to hold these people accountable?” asked Sen. Lindsey Graham.

He told the leaders of social media companies that they have gotten rich from their business, but now it's time to deal with the "dark side" of their social platforms.

"Due to the power of your companies, draft laws on this issue have not been approved. We must be clear about this. What you say, your words matter," said Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Snapchat expressed support for the social platform accountability bills ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Other companies have not done this. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel reiterated the company's stance in support of the accountability bills at yesterday's Senate hearing.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said TikTok is vigilant about enforcing policies that prohibit children under the age of 13 from using their app.

Republican and Democratic senators, in a rare show of unity, voiced support throughout the session for increased safety for children on social media platforms. But it's not clear whether that will be enough to pass the Child Internet Safety bill proposed by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

The leaders of the YouTube platform, which is controlled by the Google company, were not invited to yesterday's hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, although, according to the Pew Research Center, more children use the YouTube platform than other social media platforms./ VOA