Also present were the chiefs of X, Snap Inc, TikTok and Discord – who were grilled about inadequate protections online for children who, some politicians and activists argue, are susceptible to sexual predators, eating disorder content, unrealistic beauty standards and bullying.
Mark Zuckerberg was one of several social media bosses accused of having “blood on [their] hands” at a hearing where companies were criticised for not doing enough to protect children from being exploited on their platforms.
Mr Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, faced a sea of people who held pictures of their dead children all affected by online harms.
Also at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing were the chiefs of X, Linda Yaccarino, Snap Inc’s Evan Spiegel, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew and Discord’s Jason Citron.
All were grilled by US senators about inadequate protections online for children who, some politicians and activists argue, are susceptible to sexual predators, eating disorder content, unrealistic beauty standards and bullying on the platforms.
The room was first shown a video of children speaking about their victimisation on social media and senators recounted stories of young people taking their lives while being extorted after sharing photos with sexual predators.
Senator Lindsey Graham 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.
