Meta, X, And TikTok Will Testify Regarding Child Protection Issues

JAKARTA – Five CEOs of the world's largest social media companies will testify before the United States (US) Senate regarding the company's failure to protect children.

The trial, which will be held online, will be held on January 31. According to a report by The Verge, the five companies present at the hearing are Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, TiKTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, and Discord CEO Jason Citron will provide an explanation regarding the problem of child exploitation on their respective platforms.

Before this announcement was made, Yaccarino, Spiegel, and Citron repeatedly refused to appear at the hearing. With several weeks of resistance, Senators Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham finally issued subpoenas.

This online hearing is a response to demands from a number of schools throughout the United States. They sued Meta, ByteDance, Alphabet, and Snap because their platforms were thought to make children addicted to playing.

Through this hearing, Senators Durbin and Graham will listen to the CEOs' explanations and ask the five companies to comply more with child safety regulations on the internet.

“They were finally forced to admit their failure to protect children. Now that the five companies are working together, we're looking forward to input from their CEOs. "Parents and children demand action," said the two, quoted by VOI from The Verge.