Facebook, Google CEOs grilled over impact of social media on children and mental health

In the first Congressional hearing after former US President Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building, Facebook Inc and Alphabet’s Google came under fire on March 25 for the tech giants’ impact on children. The lawmakers, who more or less blamed social media including Twitter for inciting the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, zeroes in on Facebook’s plan for a new application for kids and YouTube’s feature that serves up a continuous stream of videos. The main issues that were raised in the hearing including COVID-19 misinformation, harassment, hate speech and extremism.

The lawmakers pressed Facebook Inc’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc and Google which owns YouTube, to answer “yes” or “no” questions about whether their respective products are designed to keep children addicted and further pose a threat to their well-being. 

As per the Washinton Post report, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican and the mother of three school-aged kids said, “Your platforms are my biggest fear as a parent," while adding "My husband and I are fighting the big tech battles in our household every day. It's a battle for their development, a battle for their mental health, and ultimately, a battle for their safety." Later, Facebook CEO said, "Using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits" even after lawmaker revealed tragic outcomes of social media.

All three CEOs staunchly backed their companies on Thursday with the efforts platforms made to weed out the toxic content posted and circulated on services that have billions of users. Dorsey said, “I don’t think we should be the arbiters of truth and I don’t think the government should be either.” Democrats are laying the responsibility for the January 6 riot and misinformation regarding November presidential elections on social media. Rep. Mike Doyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat, told the CEOs that the riot “started and was nourished on your platforms.”

Lawmakers ask Dorsey, Zuckerberg, Pichai direct questions

During the heated hearing of Dorsey, Facebook Inc's Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc were asked “yes or no” including whether their respective platforms bore any responsibility for the January 6 riot at the capitol building and if they understood the difference between the two words. Expressing the frustration, Dorsey tweeted “?” with a poll asking users to vote “yes” or “no” during the hearing. While the poll has now received more than 95,400 votes, Democratic Representative Kathleen Rice called Dorsey out during the session.