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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate volition clasp an Oct. 26 proceeding with tech firms Snap’s Snapchat, TikTok, and Alphabet’s YouTube astir their platforms’ interaction connected young users, a sheet said connected Tuesday.
“Recent revelations astir harm to kids online amusement that Big Tech is facing its Big Tobacco moment—a infinitesimal of reckoning,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Commerce user extortion subcommittee holding the hearing.
“We request to recognize the interaction of fashionable platforms similar Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube connected children and what companies tin bash amended to support them safe.”
Senator Marcia Blackburn, the apical Republican connected the subcommittee, said, “TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube each play a starring relation successful exposing children to harmful content.”
A Snap spokeswoman said the institution looks guardant to discussing their “approach to protecting the safety, privacy, and wellbeing of our Snapchat community.” TikTok and YouTube some confirmed they would instrumentality part.
Earlier this month, the sheet held a proceeding with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who turned implicit thousands of documents she said showed the institution had failed to support young users.
“The company’s enactment knows however to marque Facebook and Instagram safer, but won’t marque the indispensable changes due to the fact that they person enactment their astronomical profits earlier people. Congressional enactment is needed,” Haugen said.
At the hearing, Blackburn accused Facebook of turning a unsighted oculus to children beneath property 13 connected its services. “It is wide that Facebook prioritizes nett implicit the well-being of children and each users,” she said.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rejected the criticism. “The statement that we deliberately propulsion contented that makes radical aggravated for nett is profoundly illogical,” helium wrote. Last month, Facebook said it was putting connected clasp a caller mentation of its Instagram photo-sharing app for kids.
By David Shepardson
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