Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced the most pressure from the panel.
But each CEO was asked questions about the policies they have in place to mitigate the risks of online sexual exploitation, as well as the spread of harmful content that promotes suicide, self harm and eating disorders over the roughly four and a half hours of questioning.
The packed hearing room was filled with parent and survivor advocates who put pressure not just on the companies, but also on the senators to advance regulation aimed at holding the companies accountable
Zuckerberg faced the brunt of criticism from senators on both sides of the aisle over how the company that owns Facebook and Instagram poses risks to children online.
In one of the most heated exchanges of the day, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) repeatedly questioned Zuckerberg about Meta’s own internal research revealed by whistleblower Frances Haugen that found a negative impact of Instagram on teens, especially teen girls.
Zuckerberg said the report was mischaracterized, but Hawley continued to push him and pressured him to apologize to the parent advocates at the hearing.
Zuckerberg then turned his back to the Senate panel to apologize to the parents in the audience, many of whom held photos of children they said were victims of harms of social media.
Chew took heat from lawmakers about the
company’s ties to China. The video-based social media app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has previously faced bipartisan scrutiny over concerns about data privacy and national security.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
