Assignment task:
Write an essay and provide 5 in-text citations
Analyze the risks vs. benefits of having such resources available to businesses and society.
What happened and what were the issues? How should society respond to social media corporations and should the government control social media applications?
A group of the nation's top social media executives faced intense questioning from a united Senate committee on Wednesday about the mental health risks their enormously popular platforms pose for young people -- as well as accusations that their companies have failed to protect kids from exploitation and abuse.
Throughout four hours of grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee, CEOs for some of the world's most widely used digital platforms acknowledged shortfalls and highlighted efforts they've taken to improve them, while pushing back on other criticism.
The senators hammered the CEOs for lobbying efforts that they said have gotten in the way of federal legislation and frequently received loud applause from families of children who died after being ensnared in some of the darkest sides of these sites.
And in a remarkable moment, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up to address those families with a direct apology for what they've endured.
But the hearing ultimately left a huge question unanswered: Even given the bipartisan consensus seen among the senators, will Congress try to impose new regulations on these platforms -- and if so, to what end?
MORE: Amid what's being called a youth mental health crisis, is social media facing its own 'tobacco moment'?
A strong show of support
The Senate Judiciary Committee, in a hearing intended to drum up support for federal legislation to safeguard children from the online world, also heard on Wednesday from X's Linda Yaccarino, TikTok's Shou Chew, Snap's Evan Spiegel and Discord's Jason Citron.
The hearing was held amid heightened concerns about the dangers to young people.
Sexual exploitation of kids online is a growing problem in the U.S.: According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, daily cyber tips of child sexual abuse material online have gone up tenfold in the past 10 years, reaching 100,000 daily reports in 2023.
There are also widespread concerns about the mental health impacts of social media. In a recent advisory by the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the nation's top doctor warned that "we don't have enough evidence to say [social media is] safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people's mental health."
Parents in the room for the hearing on Wednesday were direct evidence of both issues, the senators said.
"Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us -- I know you don't mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said as the hearing kicked off.
That comment prompted applause from families, who held photos of their kids.
"You have a product that's killing people," added Graham, the Republicans' ranking member on the panel.
Later on in the hearing, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri called on Meta's Zuckerberg to directly apologize to the families in the room.
"They're here. You're on national television ... Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?" Hawley pressed.
Zuckerberg, whose company encompasses Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp among others, then stood up and turned around to address parents.
"It's terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered," he told them. "And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."
Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called online child exploitation a "crisis in America" fueled by rapid changes in technology that give predators "powerful new tools" to target kids.
"Their [the digital platforms'] design choices, their failures to adequately invest in trust and safety and their constant pursuit of engagement and profit over basic safety have all put our kids and grandkids at risk," he said in his opening statement.
Graham acknowledged there were positives to the social edia sites, too, but "the dark side hasn't been dealt with."
In response, the CEOs largely leaned into highlighting actions they've taken to try to alleviate these problems. Meta recently announced plans to hide content it deems inappropriate for teens and is pushing for age verification when people download their platforms on the App store.
The CEOs of Snap and X both publicly endorsed a prominent bipartisan bill during the hearing, the Kids Online Safety Act.
With so much of our lives spent on mobile devices and social media, it's important to look into the effects on teen mental health and wellbeing. I take this very seriously," he said in his opening remarks. "Mental health is a complex issue and the existing body of scientific work has not shown a causal link between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes."
Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., pushed Zuckerberg to acknowledge what Ossoff called the "inherent danger" young people face on the internet and his platforms.
"There are families here who have lost their children. There are families across the country whose children have engaged in self harm, who have experienced low self-esteem, who have been sold deadly pills on the internet. The internet is a dangerous place for children. And your platforms are dangerous places for children. Do you agree?" Ossoff asked.
"I think that there are harms that we need to work to mitigate," Zuckerberg replied, but said he believed his platforms were safe for kids.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, told Zuckerberg that his belief should disqualify him from leading the company.
"If you think that Instagram is not hurting millions of our young people, particularly young teens, particularly young women, you shouldn't be driving," he said.
WRITE AN ESSAY AND PROVIDE 5 IN-TEXT CITATION
Analyze the risks vs. benefits of having such resources available to businesses and society.
What happened and what were the issues? How should society respond to social media corporations and should the government control social media applications?