(Photo Credit: CNN Business/Getty Images)

By James King

Editorial Editor

On January 31, the CEOs of Meta, X, Discord, TikTok, and Snapchat all attended a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, being interrogated about what they are doing to protect children on social media. This resulted after many parents showing concern about the well-being of their children who use social media. The hearing took place in attempts to gain support for new legislation regarding child safety online.

The hearing began with testimonies from children and parents alike who spoke on how they and their children were being exploited via social media. They brought up things like harassment, information leaks, and other processes occurring through social media that they felt should be prevented. Parents attending also held up pictures of loved ones whom they have lost by suicide – largely stemming from what they say are the effects that of the environment that social media companies have created.

During the hearing, Mark Zuckerbug was asked by Missouri’s Republican US Senator Josh Hawley if he had compensated any of the victims or families who have been exploited. Zuckerburg responded by saying that he has not. Hawley then replied, “There’s families of the victims here, would you like to apologize to them?” Mark Zuckerburg then got up from his chair, faced the families by turning toward the gallery, and expressed how sorry he was. He also added that his company, Meta, would continue to invest and work on more industry-wide efforts aimed to protect children and combat online abuse.

When asked how these social media hearings made them feel during an interview, a Hammond student, responded by expressing how although he knows he should care, he really did not and still wished to continue using social media. In an interview with another student, in reply to the same question, he said, “It makes me feel good because we are finally doing something about social media and making it more accountable.”

Although these hearings are ongoing, promises are being made to do something about social media, nothing is done and things have not changed. This is why Congress is trying to gain support in passing Kids Online Safety Act (S.1049), an act that was proposed by Senator Richard Blumenthal and Senator Marsha Blackburn. The Kids Online Safety Act is meant to empower both kids and parents to take control over the kids’ online experiences and to better protect their health and well-being online. The bill would require social media companies to adhere to more rules about ability to report hazards, disclosing information previously held secret, limiting their advertisements, and annually take reports on potential harm risks.

Senator Blumenthal and Senator Blackburn are of different parties, with Blumenthal being a Democrat and Blackburn being a Republican. Despite them, both figures largely agree on the way by which the senate should tackle social media. A bipartisan effort is being made by both parties towards protection of children online. This is highly important as cross party efforts like this in congress rarely occur.

On February 15, the bill also surpassed 60 co-sponsors in the senate. This means that KOSA has gained enough supporters to pass it through the chamber. This came mostly after some changes were made to the bill in order to ensure that it is not used to harm members of the LGBTQ+ community. Due to its new popularity, other officials have begun to release their own similar bills as well, but these have so far come with little success.