Five tech CEOs testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as part of a hearing focused on online child exploitation. The leaders of Meta, Snapchat, X, TikTok, and Discord were grilled by the bipartisan panel about how they have been addressing widespread safety concerns with their platforms. The hearing room was full of family members holding up photos of their loved ones — children and teens who died by suicide because of online bullying or from overdoses caused by drugs purchased on a social-media site. Here are some of the hearing’s most dramatic moments.
Hawley vs. Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, became caught in a heated exchange with Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. Their contentious back-and-forth began when Hawley asked Zuckerberg if he truly believes there’s no link between mental health and social-media use, as he had suggested in his opening statement.
“Senator, what I said is I think it’s important to look at the science. I know people widely talk about this as if that is something that’s already been proven, and I think the bulk of the scientific evidence does not support that,” Zuckerberg said.
Hawley then proceeded to quote segments of a study Meta had conducted on social media that reportedly found Instagram can worsen body-image issues for its users, particularly young women.
“Your own study says that you make life worse for one in three teenage girls …,” Hawley began.
“That’s not what it says,” Zuckerberg interrupted.
“That’s what it says,” Hawley replied, “and you’re sitting here testifying to us in public that there’s no link! You’ve been doing this for years!”
Zuckerberg apologized to families
The most notable moment of the day came during Zuckerberg’s questioning by Hawley. The senator asked Zuckerberg if he has ever apologized to the families who lost loved ones in connection with his platforms.
“There’s families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims?” Hawley asked. “Would you like to do so now? They’re here; you’re on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product?”
Zuckerberg turned and stood to the audience, his words audible in the room but not picked up by his microphone.
“I’m sorry for everything you’ve all gone through. It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer,” he said, according to NBC News.
Cotton asked TikTok’s Singaporean CEO if he’s a Chinese communist
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas has long advocated for a complete ban on TikTok, claiming it poses a significant security and privacy risk to Americans and dubbing it a “spy app and a propaganda machine for the Chinese Communist Party.”
When it came time to question TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Cotton asked him a series of rapid-fire questions about his personal loyalties, inquiring about his and his wife’s citizenship. Chew explained that he hails from Singapore and had even served his country in the military.
The line of questioning quickly spiraled out of control. Cotton asked, “Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?”
Chew, seemingly shocked, responded, “Senator, I’m Singaporean. No.”
Cotton continued, “Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?”
Chew then replied, “No, senator. Again, I’m Singaporean.”
Graham to CEOs: “You have blood on your hands”
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, the committee’s ranking member, took Zuckerberg to task, saying that he and the other tech leaders sitting beside him share responsibility for the ills of social media.
“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that’s killing people,” Graham said to applause from the audience in the hearing room.
He alluded to Section 230, a part of federal communications law that protects tech companies from being held responsible for what their users post on their platforms.
“When we had cigarettes killing people, we did something about it. Maybe not enough. You’re gonna talk about guns, we have the ATF. Nothing here,” Graham said. “There’s not a damn thing we can do about it. You can’t be sued.”
The senator then raised the case of South Carolina state representative Brandon Guffey, who is suing Meta because his teenage son committed suicide after being caught up in a sextortion ring on Instagram. Graham asked Zuckerberg what he would say to Guffey.
“It’s terrible. No one should have to go through something like that,” Zuckerberg said.
Graham then asked, “Do you think that he should be allowed to sue you?”
Zuckerberg paused and eventually responded, “I think that they can sue us.”
Graham then said, “Well, I think he should and that he can.”
Snapchat CEO issued his own apology
Evan Spiegel, the leader of Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, Inc., also apologized to parents who have lost children after they had purchased drugs through the app.
“Mr. Spiegel, there are a number of parents whose children have been able to access illegal drugs on your platform. What do you say to those parents?” asked Senator Laphonza Butler of California.
“I’m so sorry that we’ve not been able to prevent these tragedies,” Spiegel said. “We work very hard to block all search terms related to drugs from our platform. We proactively look for and detect drug-related content.”
