Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg presented a clear vision before Congress today: Apple and Google should be more involved in preventing youngsters from using specific platforms or making sure they are using social media age-appropriately.
According to Zuckerberg, rather than requiring parents to submit their ID to various applications, the Apple and Google app stores may be the “easiest” and “right” places to check the age of their children or allow them to verify their identity.
“It should be pretty trivial to pass a law that requires them to make it so that parents have control every time a child downloads an app and offers consent to that,” he continues, pointing out that if the two giants’ app stores already demand parental agreement when kids make payments in applications, then passing such a law would be relatively easy.
Wednesday’s US Senate hearing will feature challenging questions for the CEOs of X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord, four social media firms, regarding their efforts to prevent online child sexual abuse.
Senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, claimed that while some tech companies have recently implemented adjustments to safeguard children from online predators, their efforts have fallen short. “The tech industry has failed to protect our children on its own, so it is evident that we need laws. Durbin stated on Tuesday, “They’re protecting their profits, but they’re not protecting our children.”
X CEO Linda Yaccarino meets with lawmakers ahead of first congressional hearing
Given the nature of Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which will center on Big Tech’s efforts to shield minors from sexual exploitation online, Yaccarino’s conversations mostly centered on X’s efforts to prevent child sexual exploitation. On Saturday, the business promised to recruit additional internal agents to examine exploitative content and revealed the opening of a new trust and safety center of excellence in Austin, Texas.
A few statistics were also disclosed, which Yaccarino will probably bring up in the hearing. One of them is that in 2023, 12.4 million accounts—up from 2.3 million in 2022—were suspended for breaking CSE policies. On Wednesday, Yaccarino will share the stage alongside prominent tech executives, such as Jason Citron, CEO of Discord; Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Snap; Evan Spiegel; and Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok.
Are posts deleted from sites due to violations of self-harm?
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, posed the following question to each of the five social media executives: Do they keep track of the number of posts with themes of self-harm or suicide on their platforms, as well as the total number of views a post obtains before being removed?
No, but Mark Zuckerberg, whose business owns Instagram and Facebook, maintains that the frequency of these posts is monitored.
Yes, according to Linda Yaccarino, who also notes that in 2023, about a million posts on X that discussed mental health and self-harm were taken down.
Yes, according to Shou Zi Chew, who is commenting on behalf of TikTok. The company also notes whether or not posts are removed proactively by moderators or in response to user reports.
One of the few topics on which Congress can agree is child safety online.
So far, lawmakers from both parties have prioritized their ongoing legislation with a certain amount of haste.
This is a significant shift in tone compared to earlier Big Tech hearings, where lawmakers mainly attacked executives for what their firms were doing wrong and took jabs at the opposition.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, stated. “We haven’t passed any of these bills.”
“They haven’t passed because of the power of your companies, so let’s be clear about what you say matters.”
According to Senator Amy Klobuchar, it is time for legislative action. For far too long, social media companies have ignored the fact that young children were using their platforms, raised the possibility of sexual exploitation, employed algorithms that promote inappropriate content, and given dealers a place to sell lethal drugs like fentanyl.