During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by Senator Josh Hawley, who pointedly asked the Meta CEO to apologize to families of victims of child bullying and sexual exploitation seated behind him.
Zuckerberg responded by standing up and looking at the families and saying, "No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered."
"This is why we've invested 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 your families had had to suffer," Zuckerberg continued.
The Context
Child sexual exploitation has become increasingly more common on digital platforms, making it easier for child sex offenders to gain access to a vulnerable population. UNICEF, a United Nations agency aimed at supporting children globally, says on its website that about 80 percent of children in 25 countries report feeling in danger of sexual abuse or exploitation online.
What We Know
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis." The hearing was aimed at holding Big Tech leaders accountable by having them testify in front of Congress and the families of victims who were impacted by child bullying and sexual exploitation via digital platforms.
Those who were set to testify included Zuckerberg, TikTok CEO Shou Chew and Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X, formerly Twitter.
After Zuckerberg apologized to the victims' families, CNN host Dana Bash reacted: "Wow, what we all just saw live on television is going to be a moment for the ages."
Zuckerberg was taking fire from Hawley during their exchange. The Missouri Republican brought up data from a senior executive who worked for Zuckerberg and testified before the Senate on recent statistics that he found.
Hawley said, "37 percent of teenage girls between 13 and 15 were exposed to unwanted nudity in a week on Instagram. You knew about it. Who did you fire?"
Zuckerberg said, "I'm not going to answer that."
Hawley retorted: "Because you didn't fire anybody, right? You didn't take any significant action."
Meta said in a statement on Wednesday that the company "has spent more than a decade" working to keep children safe online "and has developed more than 30 tools, features and resources to support teens and their parents.
"We have around 40,000 people overall working on safety and security, and we have invested over $20 billion since 2016. This includes around $5 billion in the last year alone."
When approached for comment, Hawley's office referred Newsweek to a post from the senator that was shared on X on Wednesday. In the post, Hawley said that Zuckerberg's apology was "long, long overdue."
Views
Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, made his views on social media's role in child sexual exploitation known during the hearing. He told 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."
Zuckerberg tried to defend himself and his company by speaking about the complexity of the issue. In his opening statement, the tech CEO said, "Keeping young people safe online has been a challenge since the internet began."
What's Next?
The Senate Judiciary Committee hopes that Wednesday's testimony will "highlight the need for Congress to act" on several bipartisan bills aimed at stopping the online exploitation of children, according to the committee's website.
Some bills that the committee unanimously reported include the STOP CSAM Act, "which supports victims and increases accountability and transparency for online platforms" and the EARN IT Act, "which removes tech's blanket immunity from civil and criminal liability...and establishes a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention," the website states.
Newsweek reached out to Meta and Hawley's office via email for comment.
Correction 1/31/24, 2:51 p.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Zuckerberg.
Update 1/31/24, 4:43 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Correction 1/31/24, 4:43 p.m. ET: This article was updated to correct Graham's position on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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