Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg issued awkward apology at fiery Senate hearing on child safety

CEOs from Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord were grilled on Capitol Hill this week about the proliferation of child abuse on their platforms. Senators cornered the executives in increasingly uncomfortable positions to which they retreated with familiar if unconvincing claims that they were striving for online safety. Much of the questioning was reserved for Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Senator Josh Hawley challenged him to apologise to the families of online abuse victims sitting behind him in the audience. Zuckerberg turned and obliged, awkwardly. Legislative change could be imminent. Central to the hearing is the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) which would require strict protections for minors using online platforms. Additionally, analysts say Section 230 – giving immunity to online platforms for content published by third parties – could be overhauled. The senators did not always distinguish themselves with their grasp of detail. In one exchange, Senator Tom Cotton repeatedly questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on his ties to the Chinese Communist Party, to which Shou repeatedly replied: “I’m Singaporean”.