Your Undivided Attention

U.S. Senators Grilled Social Media CEOs. Will Anything Change?

Feb 13, 2024

25:06

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Episode guests

Frances Haugen

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Quick takeaways

The recent US Senate hearing with social media CEOs reflects a significant step towards making tech platforms accountable for the harm caused to children online and highlights the impact of their actions on affected families.

The Kids Online Safety Act (COSA), a federal online safety bill with bipartisan support, aims to create a duty of care for social media platforms to protect children by implementing features like default privacy settings, disabling recommendation algorithms, and tools for parents to track screen time, while facing challenges from lobbying groups and the need for a multi-faceted legislative approach.

Deep dives

The Senate hearing on social media companies and exploitation of children online

The podcast discusses the recent US Senate hearing that focused on the accountability of social media companies for the harm caused to children online. The hearing included testimonies from the CEOs of Meta, Snap, and TikTok. The discussion highlights the significance of this event as a step towards making tech platforms responsible for the harms resulting from their products. The experiences and emotions of the attendees, including the whistleblower and parents of affected children, are described, emphasizing the impact of the hearing. The podcast explores the apologies made by Mark Zuckerberg and the reactions to them. It also highlights the stock market's response to the hearing, with Meta experiencing a significant increase in stock price while facing criticisms regarding their prioritization of profits over child safety.

The Power of Transparent Data in Addressing Teen Mental Health

01:12

Believe in the Power of Hope and Action

02:14

Introduction

2min

Parents Demand Accountability from Social Media CEOs

4min

Stock price surge and company actions following a hearing

2min

Collective Effort to Address Teen Mental Health and Child Online Safety

15min

Prioritizing Safety and Belief in Achieving Change

2min

Was it political progress, or just political theater? The recent Senate hearing with social media CEOs led to astonishing moments — including Mark Zuckerberg’s public apology to families who lost children following social media abuse. Our panel of experts, including Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, untangles the explosive hearing, and offers a look ahead, as well. How will this hearing impact protocol within these social media companies? How will it impact legislation? In short: will anything change?

Clarification: Julie says that shortly after the hearing, Meta’s stock price had the biggest increase of any company in the stock market’s history. It was the biggest one-day gain by any company in Wall Street history.

Correction: Frances says it takes Snap three or four minutes to take down exploitative content. In Snap's most recent transparency report, they list six minutes as the median turnaround time to remove exploitative content.

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Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_