TikTok CEO testifies before Congress
TechCrunchAUG 2023
US Senate Questions Top Social Media Execs on Child Safety
Image copyright: Alex Wong / Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Congratulations are due to the bipartisan group of senators who are taking on this issue and confronting these CEOs who are profiting off the exploitation of children. Wednesday’s hearing was a step in the right direction. Still, much more needs to be done to protect children from the dangers of social media exploitation because too often these platforms have placed profit above safety.
Narrative B
These CEOs are truly sorry for any harm their platforms have caused. Many families have dealt with unthinkable suffering, but as studies have been released to help better mitigate the harms, the platforms are doing what they can to implement controls and tools to make their sites as safe as possible. More will be done moving forward to provide security for kids and improve industry standards.