Lawmakers grill CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord at child safety hearing — 1/31/24

Mark Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino, Evan Spiegel and other leading social media executives face a grilling on Wednesday from lawmakers concerned about child exploitation and safety on their services.

The three CEOs—who lead Meta, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Snap, respectively—appear in Washington alongside TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Discord CEO Jason Citron, as witnesses at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about safeguarding children on their respective platforms.

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Lawmakers grill CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord at child safety hearing — 1/31/24

[xopurp]

Parents should talk with their kids about internet & social media safety. Educating kids properly on how to be safe and protected is so integral

[martinuruebor]

The parents should take responsibility, downloading an app on a phone is optional, these narratives are misleading.

[Blockbuilderbeast]

Our government knows very little when it comes to social media

[dave]

So Congress is basically saying eliminate the Internet. That's still not going to work it's a PARENTS JOB!! 🤬🤬🤬

[czargetscrypto]

Can i sue the federal reserve because the exploiters in the world want to use the federal reserves financial platform to preform these illegal acts?

[KeepersMom]

It would be nice if we actually got to hear the answer to the questions.

[JustalittleShorts]

I don’t think companies should be able to be sued for the actions of a random individual unless the platform has been made aware and allows it to continue. If they are KNOWINGLY letting it happen then obviously that is a crime. Otherwise you can’t sue the guy that owns the billboard just because someone put offensive graffiti on it. The guy who owns the billboard pays to remove the graffiti and that’s it. End of story

[matthewantony]

While this has raised numerous insightful questions and points, I believe it would be highly advisable for the committee to include a team of tech experts, medical doctors, psychologists, and other professionals trained in the relevant fields of these companies. This diverse group could effectively respond to the intelligent discourse presented by the CEOs.

[Theitlibrary]

i can not believe that the whole congress is blaming the CEO`s of tech companies instead of parents who are bad parenting, parents should not allow kids under the age of 14 years to have social media and the app store should also be the one to restrict kids from downloading apps ... this is an interior problem, the parents are to blame not business people

[llmnrxpsed]

I may receive a negative reaction to this, but if Congress believes removing liability protection will preempt CEO's to take this more seriously, then wouldn't opening US Congress up to civil suit likewise preempt them to better eradicate this content? I believe any CEO who knowingly and/or intentionally facilitates or ignores such content on their platforms should be liable for civil suit. However, if they are doing everything possible to prevent CSEP, and are liable because they haven't reached a 100% success rate at preventing such crime, then US Congress should be liable because they are also responsible, but have not reached a 100% success rate. If this principle is true, I don't see why Congress should be exempt. Perhaps if they were held personally responsible, we would see a lot more progress acorss every major issue. Finally, bipartisanship is not only important within Congress, but also between Congress and private sector CEO's who are trying to do the right thing. Treating these CEO's as the enemy inhibits our ability to work together and collectively win this battle and protect the defenseless.

[MICOCINAMEXICANA]

THE PARENTS, THE ONLY RESPONSIBLE.

My daughter is 11 and she has no cell phone but I know other kids whose parents don’t even care about letting them spend hours & hours on social media, they even let them sleep with their stupid cellphones or tablets in their rooms.

ONCE AGAIN PARENTS, WE ARE THE ONES IN CHARGE OF OUR OWN CHILDREN FOR GOD’S SAKE! SO, IF A CHILD ENDS UP DEAD OR MISSING, HOLD THE PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE & NO BODY ELSE. THAT’S WHAT IT HAS TO CHANGE FIRST!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[grumpysheep]

I'm sorry for what I'm about to say but where were these parents to prevent this from happening to their child?

Where were they to monitor them online and make sure they're not getting into harm themselves or harm by others?

Where were the parents to prevent their child from being exploited and stuff like to set boundaries of perimeters, timetables, you know a childproof safety options are optional on every single social media platform.

WHERE WERE THE PARENTS? Where were they?

Again forgive and my condolences to those who have passed.

Edit: Just like teachers, Social Media should not be the ones to raise their kids or ANY kids at that. Thats NOT what it was ever meant for.

[WildWestPros]

It’s insane how most profitable companies in the world aren’t being watched properly or being sued! Can’t wait for the bills to pass!!

[kopytka]

The parents are acting like it's the CEO's responsibility to monitor their children instead of them.

[andyli]

2:22:13 Senator Cotton, you conducted an excellent grilling, successfully revealing to people around the world how the arrogance of America politician.

[mylosjourney]

The PARENTS should be held accountable. Not the app or its creators.

[pelayo]

How is responsable a ceo for other people mistakes?

[soniaespinoza]

Bro why blame social media for their kids doings. It’s the parents fault for kids doing on what they are doing

[ArianaPinheiro]

It’s like blaming Henry Ford for car accidents caused by drunk drivers. 😫😫

Parents: educate your kids. Social media platforms are NOT your “free” nannies. Sorry.

[fxforlife]

I am the only one here who believe that’s it’s ultimately the responsibility of parents to make sure that their children against social media ?If social media is so dangerous why don’t we just shut it down ?