Sexual predators, Addictive features, Suicide and eating disorders. Unrealistic beauty standards. Bullying. These are just some of the issues young people are dealing with on social media — and children’s advocates and lawmakers say companies are not doing enough to protect them.
As legislators and parents become more concerned about the effects of social media on the lives of young people, the CEOs of
Meta, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media companies appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee overnight in the US to testify.
Children and parents who claimed they or their kids had been taken advantage of on social media gave recorded testimony to start the hearing. Parents of deceased children silently held up pictures of their departed children during the course of the event, which lasted for hours.
“They’re responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the committee, said in opening remarks.
