Leaders from five social media platforms were admonished by U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday over their ¡°failure¡± to protect kids online from sexual predators and mental health issues, and were pressed to support new legislation to impose controls.
The 21-member Senate Judiciary Committee called the chief executives of Meta, X, Snap, Discord and TikTok to Washington in an effort to hold them accountable for their platforms¡¯ impact on teenagers and children.
¡°These companies must be reined in, or the worst is yet to come,¡± Senator Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the committee, said. Singling out Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Graham said he had ¡°blood on his hands,¡± detailing a story of a child who was a victim of sexual exploitation. ¡°You have a product that¡¯s killing people,¡± he added. His comments were met with an uproar of applause and cheers from advocates in attendance in the packed hearing room.
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