Parents Heckle Mark Zuckerberg at Child Exploitation Hearing

Parents of deceased and exploited children heckled Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the role tech companies play in online child sexual exploitation.

Parents holding photos of their deceased children, many of whom died by suicide, audibly hissed at Zuckerberg as he entered the chamber. According to NBC News, some of the family members who attended the hearing hold Meta’s subsidiary, Instagram, responsible for facilitating the abuse and suicide of their children.

As the CEO gave his opening statement to lawmakers, he acknowledged the families’ presence in the room. “I want to recognize the families that are here today, who have lost a loved one or lived through some terrible things, that no family should have to endure,” Zuckerberg said.

“No thanks,” one member of the audience called out.

The hearing, titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis,” was hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee has authored a package of legislation aimed at improving resources and protections for victims of child sexual abuse and curbing the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has authored the STOP CSAM Act, which would grant victims the right to bring civil litigation against social media companies if their platforms were used to facilitate abuse and exploitation. A separate bill, the EARN IT Act, would dissolve protections from liability granted to tech platforms.

Hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin, the committee released emails obtained from Meta showing Zuckerberg had rejected requests from Meta leadership to drastically expand the company’s child safety team. In one email exchange, Facebook Global Affairs President Nick Clegg wrote to Zuckerberg that the company was falling short of its bullying and harassment prevention targets, and was potentially risking backlash from regulators.

Zuckerberg was not the only major tech CEO present at the hearing. X CEO Linda Yaccarino, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Snapchat founder and CEO Evan Spiegel, and Discord CEO Jason Citron were also present to answer questions from the committee. YouTube and Google were conspicuously absent from the proceedings.

Lawmakers clashed with the witnesses virtually from the beginning of the hearing. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Zuckerberg to the point that he stood up and apologized to the families who’d heckled him. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer,” he said.

During his opening statement, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the top Republican on the committee, accused Zuckerberg of having “blood” on his hands.

“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us — I know that you don’t mean it to be so —- but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that’s killing people,” Graham said to audience applause.

The South Carolina senator also questioned Zuckerberg regarding the death of Gavin Guffey, son of South Carolina State Rep. Brandon Guffey. Guffey, then 17, died by suicide in 2022 after becoming the victim of a sexual extortion scam on Instagram. On Tuesday, Brandon Guffey sued Instagram, alleging that the company is not doing enough to protect the welfare and safety of teenagers.

“Do you think [Guffey] should be allowed to sue you?” Graham asked.

“I think they can sue us,” Zuckerberg replied.

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