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“You Have Blood on Your Hands”: Senators Go After Social Media CEOs in Fiery Senate Hearing

HeadlineFeb 01, 2024

On Capitol Hill, senators on the Judiciary Committee grilled the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X, Snapchat and Discord Wednesday, arguing social media companies must be held accountable for the sexual exploitation of children that their apps facilitate and the harmful effects of their products on the mental health of young people. This is Republican Senator Lindsey Graham addressing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “You and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product — you have a product that’s killing people. When we had cigarettes killing people, we did something about it, maybe not enough. You’re going to talk about guns; we have the ATF. Nothing here. There’s not a damn thing anybody can do about it. You can’t be sued.”

In one of the session’s most sensational moments, Mark Zuckerberg stood up and apologized to the families who were present at the hearing, after being pressured by Republican Senator Josh Hawley.

Mark Zuckerberg: “I’m sorry for everything that you have all gone through. It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer.”

Many families held up photos of their children, who died or were harmed by social media. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel also directly apologized to families after prompting from California Democrat Laphonza Butler.

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