WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Congress will grill the CEOs from several of the world’s biggest social media platforms Wednesday about their efforts to make their services after for children.
Mark Zuckerberg, who leads Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta, is scheduled to appear in Washington, alongside TikTok CEO Shou Chew; X (formerly known as Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarion; Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel; and Discord CEO Jason Citron. All will appear as witnesses at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about protecting children on their respective platforms.
The hearing comes as Congress and Big Tech companies face pressure from parents to regulate apps and block harmful content.
Advocates claim social media has proven to be a breeding ground for potential harm to young users, including child sexual exploitation, trafficking, depression and suicide risks.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have blasted social media companies for what some call a “plague of online child sexual exploitation” on apps.
During Wednesday’s hearing, lawmakers plan to press them to go beyond the safety tools they’re currently using to protect children.
Meta has proposed federal legislation advocating for app stores to verify users’ age and enforce a minimum age restriction. Meta also unveiled new youth safety efforts that include hiding “age-inappropriate content.” Additionally, Snapchat also expanded its parental oversight tool as part of efforts to address these issues.
Despite these actions, advocates and parents like Kristin Bride, whose 16-year-old son died by suicide after being cyberbullied online, said find companies’ responses insufficient.
“We found out through the community that Carson had been cyberbullied over an anonymous app Yolo that had been integrated into Snapchat. He had received hundreds of negative harassing, sexually explicit messages over this app,” Bride said. “Do I just accept this and cry in bed all day? Or do I begin to fight back? And I chose to fight back and that was the beginning of my advocacy work.”
Bride, along with some members of Congress, have advocated for the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that has been under development for several years. During Wednesday’s hearing, they plan to ask whether these CEOs will publicly support this legislation.
