US Senate panel to hold new hearing on social media impact on young users – Software

The US Senate will hold an October 26 hearing with tech corporations Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube about their platforms’ effects on younger end users, a panel stated.

“Modern revelations about damage to kids on the net clearly show that Big Tech is going through its Big Tobacco instant — a instant of reckoning,” stated Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Commerce client protection subcommittee holding the hearing.

“We need to have an understanding of the effects of common platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube on kids and what companies can do far better to continue to keep them safe and sound.”

Senator Marcia Blackburn, the leading Republican on the subcommittee, stated, “TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube all play a major purpose in exposing kids to harmful written content.”

A Snap spokeswoman stated the business appears to be forward to talking about their “technique to guarding the basic safety, privacy and wellbeing of our Snapchat neighborhood.”

TikTok and YouTube both of those confirmed they would take part.

Before this month, the panel held a hearing with Fb whistleblower Frances Haugen, who turned more than hundreds of files she stated showed the business experienced unsuccessful to protect younger end users.

“The company’s management is aware of how to make Fb and Instagram safer, but won’t make the important modifications due to the fact they have set their astronomical revenue in advance of men and women. Congressional action is necessary,” Haugen stated.

At the hearing, Blackburn accused Fb of turning a blind eye to kids down below age 13 on its companies. “It is obvious that Fb prioritises profit more than the perfectly-becoming of kids and all end users,” she stated.

Fb CEO Mark Zuckerberg turned down the criticism.

“The argument that we deliberately push written content that will make men and women indignant for profit is deeply illogical,” he wrote.

Very last month, Fb stated it was placing on hold a new variation of its Instagram image sharing app for kids.