Senators demand for child safety against major tech companies

On January 31 2024, the major tech companies – Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord – testified on ‘safeguarding children’ on their Social Network Services (SNS). Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, made an apology to the parents of teenage victims of online exploitation. I thought it was great responsibility of Mark Zuckerberg to do so, however, I believe that the accusations made by the committee are not valid. 

Today, we live in a world where technology continues to develop and most people own a digital device. We can barely find people without the social media account. In social media, people can do different things such as posting their daily lifestyle, education, and advertisement. Although tech companies put an age restriction when making a new account, there are still a lot of children who access these platforms by faking their age. The company put an age restriction since there are a lot of inappropriate things for kids to watch. Even if the company considered the children’s safety, it is the children who avoided the rule. The parents should not blame these CEOs for not protecting the children ahead. Parents must restrict their children from being on social media for instance, the parents should add a ‘screen time’ on their children’s phones so that they have no access to harmful media. Therefore, it is the parent’s fault, not the CEO company's responsibility. The parents should have paid more attention to their children in order for them to not lead in harmful ways.