The past couple of years have shed light on the dangerous algorithms and potential for exploitation found on Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, and the Senate is taking notice.
Because of the alleged dangers involved with Meta, and other tech companies, the government has spent the past few years investigating into the problem. Meta in particular has been accused of creating a toxic environment for children.
This past October, a team consisting of representatives from 40 states across the US came together to sue Meta for intentionally creating Facebook and Instagram to be addictive, as reported by NPR. Based on data gathered by a whistleblower, it turns out that 24% of all teens on Meta’s platforms have received: “unwanted sexual advances,” and in response, Meta had taken almost none of these posts down. The number of unwanted and inappropriate posts taken down was in the 2% range.
Zuckerberg Stands Up And Apologizes In Front Of Senate
NEW: Josh Hawley goes off on Mark Zuckerberg and forces him to stand up, turn around and apologize to families who were impacted by child exploitation on META platforms.
Humiliating.
"You didn't take any action. You didn't fire anybody."
"There's families of victims here… pic.twitter.com/YqRfWRVSlk
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 31, 2024
Due to these allegations and the far too frequent cases of exploitation to accompany the allegations, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sat in on several Senate hearings. The latest of these hearings involved a tense moment in which Senator Josh Hawley stated bluntly: “You didn’t take action. You didn’t fire anybody.”
Senator Hawley continued: “There’s families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to do so now? Well, they’re here, you’re on national television.”
In the midst of the uncomfortable moment, Mark Zuckerberg got up, turned around to the families and victims saying: “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.”
