U.S. Senate convenes social media representatives to hold hearing
Last year, there were 36 million reports of online sexual exploitation in the U.S.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, saying, “I feel sorry for the victims of child exploitation.”
According to CNN on the 31st of last month (local time), in addition to Meta, representatives of social media such as TikTok, Snapchat, and The hearing on this day was held to hold companies accountable for the recent frequent cases of children losing their lives due to exposure to harmful online content without any sanctions.
Victims and their families were in the audience and testified about the damage they suffered from social media. They criticized “companies for not making enough efforts.”
Republican lawmaker Josh Hawley pressed Zuckerberg, asking, “Have you ever personally compensated the victims?” and “Do you have the heart to apologize to them?”
In response, Zuckerberg bowed his head and apologized to the audience, saying, “I’m sorry for everything you went through.” He also added, “We will make more efforts to protect children.”
Republican Rep. Lindsey Graham expressed his willingness to work with Democrats to resolve the issue, saying, “You have blood on your hands.” “Nothing will change until the doors of the courts are opened to victims,” she said, noting the reality that lawsuits against large corporations are nearly impossible.
The reason why lawsuits against social media platforms are difficult is because of Article 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that companies cannot be held liable for content posted by users. Regarding this, lawmakers called for the abolition of Article 230 at the hearing.
There are growing voices saying that social media platforms are inevitably responsible for this controversy. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the number of reports of online sexual exploitation material received in the United States last year reached 36 million. This is an all-time high.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.