Washington: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in the line of fire.
He was under intense scrutiny during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on ‘Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis’.
So much so that the Facebook and Instagram head had to apologise to the families affected by child suicides linked to social media use.
“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,” Zuckerburg was forced to stand up and say after Senator Josh Hawley grilled him about whether he had taken any steps, compensated the affected families or even apologised to them.
Senator Hawley was referring to data that 37% of girls between 13 and 15 years were exposed to unwanted nudity in a week on Instagram.
Watch the video clip shared by X users:
An apology from Mark Zuckerberg to America – long, long overdue pic.twitter.com/PW94qb1RK6
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 31, 2024
Zuckerburg’s apology came in the presence of grieving parents whose children were victims of tech platforms’ questionable role in child safety online.
Parents held up photos of their children, while some wore blue ribbons that read ‘STOP Online Harms! Pass KOSA!’ referring to Kids Online Safety Act which is meant to create a duty of care for social media companies.
Zuckerberg has faced serious questions and criticism around child safety issues on Meta’s platforms over the years.
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