Zuckerberg apologizes to his platforms' victims at committee hearing
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The US Congress's Judiciary Committee’s Democratic chair stressed that Meta and other social media platforms are responsible for many dangers children are currently facing online.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, January 31, 2024, to discuss child safety. (AP)
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, apologized to victims and their families harmed by his social media sites, including teens who were sexually abused online and those who committed suicide because of bullying on his platforms.
On Wednesday, during a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Zuckerberg was confronted about the negative effects his platforms have on children and teenagers, with families and victims sharing concerns on a wide range of issues, including sexual predators, mental health, and the addictive nature of social media.
Republican Josh Hawley, who accused Zuckerberg's platforms of "killing people," asked him if he has personally compensated the victims and their families, to which Zuckerberg replied "I don't think so."
In a letter published yesterday, he urged Zuckerberg to “immediately create a fund endowed by your own personal wealth for the purpose of compensating those who have been victimized by your platforms.”
After being asked to apologize, Zuckerberg addressed the parents and teens in the hearing saying, “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered,” he stated, adding that his company would continue to invest in “industry-wide efforts” to protect young people mentioning Meta’s parental control tools, which limit the content children see online.
Lawmakers from Republican and Democratic parties pressed Zuckerberg, with the Judiciary Committee’s Democratic chair, Senator Dick Durbin, stressing in his opening statement that the Meta CEO and other social media sites are “responsible for many of the dangers our children face online.”
Meta's money is blood money
Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, have been repeatedly exposed for failing to protect minors, with legal documents obtained by The Guardian, TechCrunch, and others showing that around 100,000 underage users face sexual harassment on Facebook and Instagram daily.
The state of New Mexico previously launched a lawsuit against Meta accusing the company of allowing Facebook and Instagram to devolve into “a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey.”
Meta claimed it had spent “over a decade working on these issues,” however, the recently released documents highlight cases in which the company has deliberately limited child safety features and attempted to attract more young users.
Read more: Meta failed to safeguard children despite ability, whistleblower says
