"I'm sorry for what you've been through. On January 31, local time, Zuckerberg, the founder of the American "meta" company, apologized and went viral on the platform he founded, and he never imagined such a day.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Facebook users also didn't expect that the platform's teenage user data was worth only $207, and the platform's content had such a profound impact on this group.
On the same day, the CEOs of platforms such as Meta and X (formerly Twitter) attended a hearing in the U.S. Congress to respond to questions about the harm that their social networks may bring to minors. Dozens of parents provided evidence stating that "it's 2024 and there is little to no regulation of social ** companies in the United States." ”
Zuckerberg apologized to the victims and their families at the hearing. ）
Zuckerberg was speechless when questioned
Mr. Zuckerberg, you have blood on your hands" "Your product kills" "Have you apologized to the victims" "Do you want to apologize now" ......
On January 31, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the safety of minors online, and Zuckerberg was a little overwhelmed by the repeated questions from lawmakers and the audience.
At the hearing, dozens of parents held their children's **, saying they were harmed by social **. Zuckerberg's company owns social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and CEOs of platforms such as Snap, Discord and X have all come to the hearing.
Behind the CEOs, many held the ** of their deceased relatives and wore badges that read "Stop Online Harm", and some parents were on the scene to loudly denounce the negative impact of social platforms. The crowd stood behind Zuckerberg and did not miss a single moment of speech.
The hearing showed a video of victims talking about their experiences of being treated on social platforms, the deaths or serious injuries of multiple children who were blackmailed and bullied on social platforms, and the current situation of parents of children who committed suicide.
JoAnn Bogard said her son, Mason, died in May 2019 because he was involved in a choking challenge that went viral online.
Dick Durbin, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, cited statistics from non-profit organizations about the surge in the number of cases of financial "sextortion" (sextortion is the lure of minors into sending sexually explicit ** and **).
At the hearing, the audience held up ** and slogans. ）
The atmosphere at the hearing was very gunpowdery, and the senators asked pointed questions. "Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies involved before, I know you didn't mean to, but you have blood on your hands," Senator Lindsey Graham told Zuckerberg of Meta, "Your product is killing people." This speech quickly drew thunderous applause from the audience.
Senator Josh Hawley called on Zuckerberg to be a billionaire to "compensate" families whose children have been affected by his platform. He demanded that Zuckerberg apologize directly to the families of the victims, "The family and the victim were at the scene today, have you apologized to the victim?" ”
I ......I ......Zuckerberg was momentarily speechless.
Josh asked, "There are so many national TV stations here, do you want to apologize to them now?" ”
For a moment, the victim and his family all stood up, Zuckerberg got up and turned to these listeners to apologize, and the ** reporters behind him rushed up to film the scene.
I'm sorry for what you've been through," Zuckerberg's voice was small due to the absence of a microphone, but it was still recorded live, "it's horrible." No one should have to go through what your family is going through. That's why we're so invested and will continue to lead the industry in our efforts to ensure that no one ever goes through what your family has been going through again. ”
Then, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel also stood up to apologize. Behind him stood a family whose child died after buying drugs on Snapchat. He turned to face the family, "I'm sorry we couldn't prevent these tragedies from happening," Spiegel said.
Taylor Swift also suffered from AI forged ** photos
Something similar is not just happening to minors, shortly before this hearing, on January 26, Taylor Swift, one of America's top elites, became a victim of social platforms. Almost overnight, social platforms such as X and Facebook were flooded with Taylor's "AI fakes" and more than 260,000 likes within 19 hours. Two days after the incident fermented, platform X banned searches for content related to "Taylor Swift" in order to crack down on deepfakes.
In the eyes of Taylor's fans, the disappearance of ** on the platform is the result of fan reports, and Twitter has done nothing. "They didn't take our pain seriously. And questioned whether the administrators of the social platform were working seriously.
At a White House press conference on January 26, spokesman Jean-Pierre, when asked about the matter, said that this is not a new issue, but an issue that Biden has prioritized since his first day in office, calling on Congress to "take immediate action."
Previously, the U.S. Congress introduced a series of legislative proposals aimed at social **, and so far, the Senate and the House of Representatives have failed to reach a consensus, and the American people are dissatisfied with this.
The Jan. 31 hearing was the latest effort by lawmakers to address the proposal. At the hearing, executives gave mixed responses to the current set of proposals. Zuckerberg called on lawmakers to enforce regulation, but he shifted the blame by requiring Apple and Google App stores to verify users' ages.
Matt Navarra, an analyst in the social media industry, believes that the hearing is no different from other similar hearings, including "American political grandstanding", and Zuckerberg's apology provides the perfect photo opportunity.
As noted at the hearing, it's now 2024 and there is hardly any regulation of social ** companies in the United States. Matt said.
Zuckerberg estimates that each teen user brings in $270
American social ** companies can make independent decisions when it comes to content management, and with profits above users, social media is far from 'security'. Arturo Bejar, a former senior employee of Meta, said at the hearings, "We have seen these hearings again and again, and so far, no substantive regulation has been generated. ”
One notable issue is that Meta is the platform with the largest number of users, with 40,000 admins in the face of a huge number of users, while Snap says it has 2,300 admins, X has 2,000, and Discord (which claims to be smaller) has "hundreds".
Another issue is the monetization of user data. Senator Martha Blackburn confronted Zuckerberg by citing internal documents from Meta, which show that the company estimates the lifetime value of each teenage user at $270 (about 1,938 yuan).
Youth volunteers wear T-shirts with the slogan "I'm worth more than $270." Source: Visual China).
How could you possibly have such an idea? It shocked me. Martha said, and she invited a group of youth volunteers in the back row to stand up. The volunteers wore T-shirts with the slogan "I'm worth more than $270."
Martha said that information security is not Zuckerberg's top concern, and that information is just a tool he uses to make money.
Security incidents are frequent, and the European Union has launched an investigation
Senator John said that the "meta" company has become an "information killing field". "You've convinced more than 2 billion people to give up all of their personal information — all of it — in exchange for knowing what their high school friends ate on Saturday night," he told Zuckerberg. ”
John questioned Zuckerberg, "Is your user agreement still that bad?" Zuckerberg did not respond to the question.
After the hearing, some of the parents in attendance held a rally outside, and some of them called on lawmakers to urgently pass legislation that would hold companies accountable.
A series of cybersecurity incidents have also triggered the European Union's investigation into the US social moderation mechanism. In 2023, the European Union passed the Digital Services Act, which regulates "very large platforms" (VLOPs) – the "gatekeepers" of the digital market. In addition to X, the VLOP list includes Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Google Search, and Apple's App Store. On December 18, 2023, the European Commission announced the launch of a formal investigation into platform X. The content of this hearing and the previous Taylor AI** incident have been included in the investigation, and EU Executive Vice President Margaret Vestageg said: "The era of large ** platforms that are too big to be regulated is over. ”
Compiled by journalist He Boqi.
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