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A bunch of high-profile names in the tech industry will testify at a US Senate hearing on January 31, on online child sexual exploitation. The hearing is a part of Washington’s efforts to address the issue of social media’s negative impact on children’s and young adults’ mental health.
Who all will testify
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Discord CEO Jason Citron, according to a statement.
While the chief executives of Meta and TikTok agreed to willingly participate, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Discord CEO Jason Citron and X CEO Linda Yaccarino will be testifying after being subpoenaed.
Senator Dick Durbin, the panel’s Democratic chairman and the ranking Republican Lindsey Graham said Discord and X had initially refused to accept a subpoena.
“Now that all five companies are cooperating, we look forward to hearing from their CEOs,” they said in a statement.
According to the senators, the hearing will allow committee members to press CEOs from some of the biggest social media companies on their failures to protect children online.
“When we held our first hearing on protecting children online with experts and advocates earlier this year, Big Tech griped about not getting an invitation. We promised them that their time would come. But when they were offered their chance to testify, some companies outright refused to make their CEOs available.,” said Durbin and Graham.
This will be the first appearance by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before US lawmakers since March. Back then, he faced harsh questions, including some suggesting the app was damaging children’s mental health.
“We’ve known from the beginning that our efforts to protect children online would be met with hesitation from Big Tech. They finally are being forced to acknowledge their failures when it comes to protecting kids. Parents and kids demand action,” they said.
Durbin and Graham said. Also noted that the companies’ failure to police itself at the expense of our kids cannot go unanswered.
Who all will testify
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X (formerly Twitter) CEO Linda Yaccarino, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Discord CEO Jason Citron, according to a statement.
While the chief executives of Meta and TikTok agreed to willingly participate, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Discord CEO Jason Citron and X CEO Linda Yaccarino will be testifying after being subpoenaed.
Senator Dick Durbin, the panel’s Democratic chairman and the ranking Republican Lindsey Graham said Discord and X had initially refused to accept a subpoena.
“Now that all five companies are cooperating, we look forward to hearing from their CEOs,” they said in a statement.
According to the senators, the hearing will allow committee members to press CEOs from some of the biggest social media companies on their failures to protect children online.
“When we held our first hearing on protecting children online with experts and advocates earlier this year, Big Tech griped about not getting an invitation. We promised them that their time would come. But when they were offered their chance to testify, some companies outright refused to make their CEOs available.,” said Durbin and Graham.
This will be the first appearance by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before US lawmakers since March. Back then, he faced harsh questions, including some suggesting the app was damaging children’s mental health.
“We’ve known from the beginning that our efforts to protect children online would be met with hesitation from Big Tech. They finally are being forced to acknowledge their failures when it comes to protecting kids. Parents and kids demand action,” they said.
Durbin and Graham said. Also noted that the companies’ failure to police itself at the expense of our kids cannot go unanswered.
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