Accusations, Tears and Rants - 5 Takeaways From Today's Tech CEO Hearing - CNN Business

1/31/24, 4:38 PM Accusations, tears and rants: 5 takeaways from today’s tech CEO hearing | CNN Business
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Business / Tech
Accusations, tears and rants: 5 takeaways from today’s tech CEO

hearing
By Brian Fung and Clare Duffy, CNN
5 minute read · Updated 4:51 PM EST, Wed January 31, 2024
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/tech/big-tech-executives-senate-hearing-teens/index.html 1/16
RELATED
(L-R) Jason Citron, CEO of Discord; Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap; Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok; Linda
Yaccarino, CEO of X; and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, watch a video of victims before testifying at
the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis,"
in Washington, DC, on January 31, 2024. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Washington (CNN) — A group of social media bigwigs was grilled by Congress on Wednesday about
the risks their products pose to young people.
The chief executives of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord and X, formerly known as Twitter, testified before
the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier Wednesday. The hearing got emotional at times, with
apologies from two CEOs, tough questions by senators and reactions from families in the room who
have seen harm come to some of their children.
Here are our main takeaways.
Families and victims were a massive force in the hearing

The families of people harmed by social media proved to be an immense force in Wednesday’s
hearing.
Through applause, laughter at CEO testimony, hisses and moments of silence, the parents who say
their children suffered or died as a result of social media served as a key theme.
RELATED
People hold up photographs and placards during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online
child sexual exploitation at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 31, 2024. Evelyn
Hockstein/Reuters
They drove tensions higher and in some cases appeared to fuel the attacks of lawmakers against the
CEOs. Congress has held many tech CEO hearings. But more than any other factor, the presence of
so many parents in the room transformed the hearing and injected an unprecedented sense of
urgency.
Zuckerberg, Spiegel personally apologize to families

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood to apologize to the families in the hearing room.
“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” he said. “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.”
RELATED
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, speaks directly to victims and their family members during a Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 31, 2024 in Washington,
DC. The committee heard testimony from the heads of the largest tech firms on the dangers of child
sexual exploitation on social media. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
In response, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley called on Zuckerberg, as a billionaire, to

“compensate” the families whose children have been affected by his platforms.
In response to prompting from California Democrat Sen. Laphonza Butler, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel
also apologized to families whose children have died after they purchased drugs on Snapchat.
“I’m so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies,” Spiegel said, before detailing
some of the efforts the company takes to protect young users.
‘The foothills of creepy’: Senators express outrage over tech

practices
Sen. Marsha Blackburn confronted Zuckerberg on internal Meta documents suggesting that the
company estimates the lifetime value of a teen user at $270.
“How could you possibly even have that thought? It is astounding to me,” Blackburn said, before
recognizing a group of youth advocates in the audience and inviting them to stand.
When they did so, the advocates revealed that they were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the
slogan, “I am worth more than $270.”
RELATED
People arrive to attend the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, "Big Tech and the Online Child
Sexual Exploitation Crisis," in Washington, DC, on January 31, 2024. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty
Images
“Children are not your priority. Children are your product,” Blackburn told Zuckerberg in the tense
exchange.
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy said Meta platforms have become a “killing field of
information” where users “see only one side of an issue.”
“You have convinced over 2 billion people to give up all of their personal information — every bit of it
— in exchange for getting to see what their high school friends had for dinner Saturday night,” he
said.
Asking if Facebook makes it clear to its users how their data is monetized by the platform, Kennedy
said, “Does your user agreement still suck?”
This prompted some laughter in the room.
Zuckerberg said people get the basics of how social media works.
“You’re in the foothills of creepy. You track people who aren’t even Facebook users,” Kennedy said.
“I just wonder if our technology is greater than our humanity in the interest of this funnel.”
Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar appeared visibly upset as she recounted the stories of
RELATED
parents whose children were harmed by social media platforms, including young people who
committed suicide after being threatened by predators online.
“I’m so tired of this,” Klobuchar said. “It’s been 28 years … since the start of the internet. We haven’t
passed any of these bills, because everyone’s ‘double talk, double talk.’ It’s time to actually pass
them.”
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Zuckerberg apologizes to families during Senate hearing

02:02 - Source: CNN
Lawmakers grill TikTok CEO on the platform’s connection to China

TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled several times on the company’s connection to China, via its
parent company ByteDance, and the amount of access and influence the platform grants to the
Chinese government.
In one instance, Chew told Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton that it was “a coincidence” that he
was appointed CEO of the platform a day after the Chinese Communist Party’s China internet
investment fund bought a 1% stake in ByteDance’s main Chinese subsidiary, getting a seat on the
board of the subsidiary.
Sen. Hawley also questioned Chew, who is Singaporean, about the company’s connections to China
and its communist party.
RELATED
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, testifies during the US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing "Big Tech and
the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis" in Washington, DC, on January 31, 2024. Brendan
Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
In another instance, under questioning from Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz during a timed
answering period, Chew described the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing as a “massive
protest.”
While Chew’s characterization of the event is accurate, it omits the subsequent bloody crackdown
against pro-democracy activists by the Chinese government that today is heavily censored on the
Chinese internet.
In later testimony, Chew did refer to Tianamen Square as a massacre.
Chew has previously testified to Congress that TikTok allows content about Tiananmen Square on its
platform. TikTok does not operate within China. But its parent company, ByteDance, distributes a
substantially similar app known as Douyin in China.
A rare unifying force on Capitol Hill: Hating social media

companies
Wednesday’s hearing demonstrated the breadth of criticism for social media companies among
lawmakers, a rare bipartisan topic on Capitol Hill.

RELATED
In an early instance, Sen. Graham highlighted how he has “almost nothing in common” with his
Democratic colleague Sen. Elizabeth Warren and how he has a different political philosophy from
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. However, he noted that they agree on the issues of how tech is
affecting society.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and ranking member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, left, and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. Congress
has increasingly scrutinized social media platforms as growing evidence suggests that excessive use
and the proliferation of harmful content may be damaging young people's mental health. Kent
Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images
“Elizabeth and I see an abuse here that needs to be dealt with. Sen. Durbin and I have different
political philosophies, but I appreciate what you’ve done on this committee. You’ve been a great
partner. To all my Democratic colleagues, thank you very, very much. To my Republican colleagues,
thank you all very, very much,” Graham said.
Despite both parties’ appetite for going after tech platforms, however, Congress has yet to pass
meaningful legislation to regulate social media companies.
Most of the action has taken place in state legislatures and in the courts, which have become
RELATED
battlegrounds for new policies including age minimums for social media.
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Sen. Graham triggers applause while delivering his opening statement to tech CEOs
01:27 - Source: CNN
“I am tired of talking. I’m tired of having discussions,” Graham said. “Open up the courthouse door.
Until you do that, nothing will change. Until these people can be sued for the damage they’re doing,
it is all talk.”
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1/31/24, 4:38 PM Accusations, tears and rants: 5 takeaways from today’s tech CEO hearing | CNN Business

ets Hot Stocks Fear & Latest

Accusations, tears and rants: 5 takeaways from today’s tech CEO

Here are our main takeaways.

Families and victims were a massive force in the hearing

Zuckerberg, Spiegel personally apologize to families

In response, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley called on Zuckerberg, as a billionaire, to

‘The foothills of creepy’: Senators express outrage over tech

This prompted some laughter in the room.

Zuckerberg apologizes to families during Senate hearing

Lawmakers grill TikTok CEO on the platform’s connection to China

In later testimony, Chew did refer to Tianamen Square as a massacre.

A rare unifying force on Capitol Hill: Hating social media

lawmakers, a rare bipartisan topic on Capitol Hill.

MORE FROM CNN BUSINESS

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CNN BUSINESS VIDEOS

Watch the 2024

7% Interest Savings Accounts

$30/HR No Experience Jobs

Top 3 Medicare Plans of 2023

10 Best Dividend Paying Stocks

Early Signs of Congestive Heart Failure

FOLLOW CNN BUSINESS

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