Lawmakers in the Senate hammered representatives from Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube on Tuesday, in a combative hearing about whether the tech giants do enough to …
Lawmakers in the Senate hammered representatives from Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube on Tuesday, in a combative hearing about whether the tech giants do enough to keep children safe online. It marked the first time Snapchat and TikTok have landed in the hot seat in Washington, D.C., and for nearly four hours lawmakers pressed the officials about how the apps have been misused to promote bullying, worsen eating disorders and help teens buy dangerous drugs or engage in reckless behavior. The hearing was convened by the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection, product safety and data security — the same panel that brought Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to testify earlier this month about the thousands of pages of internal company documents she has shared with Congress, regulators and the press. Haugen says the documents show how the social network places profits over public safety. Haugen’s disclosures about Facebook underscored the potential harms of the platform: its ability to amplify misinformation and how Facebook’s own research showed that Instagram can worsen mental health and body-image issues for young people. Given how enormously popular Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube are with teens, lawmakers expressed deep worry about the platforms having the ability to hurt users‘ self-image and contribute to other mental health issues. In his opening remarks, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said social media firms claiming they are distinct from Facebook is not going to cut it. „Being different from Facebook is not a defense,“ said Blumenthal, who leads the subcommittee. „That bar is in the gutter. It’s not a defense to say that you are different.“ Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., offered an even blunter assessment. „The problem is clear: Big Tech preys on children and teens to make more money,“ Markey said. „Now is the time for the legislative solutions to these problems.“ Here are four takeaways from the hearing. For the youngest users, Blumenthal said, social media companies have a perverse incentive to keep eyeballs glued on their apps, regardless of what kind of content is eventually served up. „What we want is not a race to the bottom, but a race to the top,“ Blumenthal said. For teens and other young people using social media, being optimized for engagement can make social media apps addicting and lead users to content that is not age appropriate or is harmful, the lawmakers said. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., asked the company officials if platforms are designed to keep people engaged as long as possible. Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s vice president and head of public policy, was evasive, saying the viral video app sees itself as a form of entertainment, no different than television or movies.
