Friday marks one year since the leaders of five major social media companies — Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord, and X — were grilled by a Senate Judiciary Committee over their platforms’ impact on young users.
The contentious hearing threw the concerns over social media harms into the spotlight and amped up pressure on businesses and policymakers to do more to protect children and teens.
At one point, two of the leaders — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel — apologized to the families of children who died or were seriously harmed because of social media.
Some advocates and families appreciated the move, hoping changes might unfold in the coming months. But by the end of last year, much of the legislation on kids’ online safety failed to make it past the finish line amid pushback, largely from the House.
Meanwhile, tech executives now seem closer than ever to the White House orbit, stoking advocates’ concerns that they could have President Trump’s ear regarding their business interests.
“You have Mark Zuckerberg going from apologizing to the families who have lost children because of his products under oath to reversing that policy in defiant and then the cynical goal, I believe, of buying his way out of the ongoing lawsuits,” Tech Oversight Project Executive Director Sacha Haworth said.
Amid pressure from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the Meta CEO faced the hearing audience and apologized to the families, including Deb Schill, the mother of Becca, who died at 18 after purchasing fentanyl-poisoned drugs allegedly purchased via social media.
Schmill told The Hill she “wanted to believe him,” but knew his remarks “obviously doesn’t equate to, ‘I’m willing to sacrifice something in my life, money to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.’”
Read more in a full report this weekend at TheHill.com
