Mark Zuckerberg issued a surprise apology to the families of victims of online child sexual abuse during a heated Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.
In a surprising move Wednesday, Meta’s billionaire boss got up from his chair and turned to the back of the room. There she held up pictures of children whose parents she claimed were harmed by social media.
Zuckerberg, who was grilled for hours by lawmakers for Meta’s failure to crack down on child predators and “sextortion” crimes on Facebook and Instagram, said: “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.” Stated.
“No one should have to go through what your family went through,” Zuckerberg added. “This is why we are investing so much and will continue our industry-wide efforts to ensure that no one has to go through what your family has had to go through. intend to.”
As the hearing began, the Senate committee played videos of children speaking about being bullied on social media platforms. Senators told the story of a young man who took his own life after being extorted for money after sharing a photo with a sex offender.
“Can I now apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your products?” Hawley asked, noting that the hearing was being broadcast on live television.
The 39-year-old tech mogul reacted by getting up from his chair and vomiting his urine into the packed room.
‘Your products are killing people,’ Hawley tells Zuckerberg, and Congress should move quickly to repeal Section 230, which protects social media platforms from liability for content posted by users. he claimed.
The Missouri senator also asked Zuckerberg whether Mehta plans to, or has already, compensated families of victims who suffered from online exploitation financially or through support resources such as counseling. I pursued Mr.
“I don’t think so,” Zuckerberg said. “Our job is to build tools to keep people safe across our platforms.”
