Tech Executives Grilled by Senate Over Child Safety on Internet

In one of the most tumultuous tech hearings in recent years, senators from both parties refused to back down, pressing CEOs of Meta, X, TikTok, Discord, and Snap to take responsibility and apologize for their companies’ roles in harming children.

At times, Senate members shouted and confronted the executives, prompting applause from children’s advocates in the room. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told the company chiefs, “Your hands are covered in blood.”

While executives from X, Snap, and Discord were present, most of the senators’ criticisms were directed at Mark Zuckerberg and Shiou regarding incidents of violations on Instagram and TikTok.

Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel and X’s Linda Yaccarino agreed to support the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which requires social networks, gaming sites, and messaging apps to take “reasonable steps” to prevent harm to minors using their platforms.

Zuckerberg, Shiou, and Discord’s Jason Citron did not commit to supporting the bill, arguing that while it could be directly helpful, it contains loosely defined restrictions that may conflict with free speech issues.

TikTok faced criticism over its ties to the Chinese government due to its ownership by ByteDance. Shiou, who was born in Singapore and still resides there with his three children, was asked if he holds a Chinese passport or has applied for Chinese citizenship, to which he responded that he hasn’t, although he lived in Beijing for five years, according to The New York Times.

He was also questioned about TikTok’s progress on its multibillion-dollar plan to shield sensitive U.S. user data.