A group of top social media executives faced intense questioning from a joint Senate committee on Wednesday about the mental health risks their hugely popular platforms pose to young people.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up to address those families and apologized directly for what they endured.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also heard on Wednesday from X's Linda Yaccarino, TikTok's Shaw Chew, Snap's Evan Spiegel and Discord's Jason Citron.
The hearing came amid growing concerns about the dangers to young people. Online sexual exploitation of children is a growing problem in the US: reaching 100,000 daily reports in 2023.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, daily cyber tips of online child sexual exploitation material have increased tenfold over the past 10 years.
"Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, you have blood on your hands," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said as the hearing began. That comment drew applause from families who had photos of their children.
In a recent advisory from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, the country's top doctor warned that we don't have enough evidence to say that [social media] is safe, and in fact, there is more evidence that social media what is the use of the drug linked to and is it harming the mental health of youth.
“You have a product that is killing people,” said Graham, the ranking Republican member on the panel.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri called on Meta's Zuckerberg to apologize directly to the families in the room. “They are here. You are on national television.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood up again to address those families and apologized directly for what they endured.