The chief executives of five big tech companies were grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee this week about the risks their products pose to young people.
Wednesday’s hearing included testimony from the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord and X, formerly known as Twitter. The hearing got emotional at times, with tough questions by senators, apologies from two of the CEOs, and reactions from families in the room who have seen harm come to some of their children.
At one point during the hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stood to apologize to the families who were present. “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through,” he said. “No one should go through the things that your families have suffered, and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
Most of the CEOs highlighted to lawmakers that they are parents themselves as they tried to demonstrate they care deeply about child safety on their platforms. In the weeks before Wednesday's hearing, Meta rolled out a series of new youth safety policies and features for Facebook and Instagram.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
