CEOs of Tech Companies to Testify in Senate Hearing on Online Child Sexual Exploitation

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on online child sexual exploitation for December 6. The committee expects Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to appear voluntarily. The CEOs of X (formerly Twitter), Discord, and Snap have been issued subpoenas. Committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated, “Big Tech’s failure to police itself at the expense of our kids cannot go unanswered.” Durbin wrote on X, “I’m hauling in Big Tech CEOs before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on their failure to protect kids online.” The committee claims that X and Discord refused to accept service of the subpoenas on their CEO’s behalf. Despite the refusal, the committee is determined to enlist the assistance of the US Marshals Service to serve them personally. The issue of tech platforms allegedly facilitating harms against kids has become an increasingly pressing issue. Redacted testified that Zuckerberg failed to respond to his email outlining concerns about harms facing children on the company’s platforms. Senators then demanded documents from the company’s CEO “related to senior executives’ knowledge of the mental and physical health harms associated with its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.”