Parents of children victimized on social media share horror stories with CEOs in Senate hearing
Parents of children victimized on social media shamed the CEOs of America’s most prominent platforms as they entered a Senate hearing Wednesday — with many family members holding pictures of their deceased or scarred children while an emotional impact video was played.
A crowd of forlorn parents lined the front gallery of the packed Senate Judiciary Committee chamber as Committee members grilled the executives over their failure to protect underage users on their platforms.
An audible hiss spread from the gallery as the CEOs filed into their seats and the parents skewered them with penetrating glares.
On hand at the hearing were: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel, and Discord CEO Jason Citron.
Once the execs entered, the crowd raised photos of their children who had either committed suicide or been psychologically damaged after being victimized by predators they met on Facebook and Instagram.
“Alex, Forever 17,” one sign read, “Carson Bride, Forever 16,” read another, and “Mason Bogard, Forever 15,” read a third. They were among more than 20 such signs held above the crowd.
“If you do not believe this is an idea whose time has come, take a look at the turnout here,” Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin told the CEOs as he brought the hearing to order.
The CEOs were then shown a gut-wrenching video of parents and victims sharing their experiences of sexual abuse on social media.
“I was sexually exploited on Facebook… I was sexually exploited on Instagram… I was sexually exploited on X,” said a lineup of victims, some with their faces visible, others blacked or blurred out to protect their identities.
“My son Riley died from suicide after being sexually exploited on Facebook,” said mother Mary Rodee as she held up a photo of her son, who in 2021 killed himself just six hours after a predator coerced him into sharing explicit images online and then blackmailed him.
“The child who gets exploited is never the same again,” a father continued in the video.
“I reported this issue numerous times,” said a woman whose identity was obscured in the footage. “It took more than a decade before anybody helped me.”
A mother who had her face blurred in the footage explained how her 13-year-old son was “exploited online and trafficked.”
The young teen went to Twitter for help but was rebuffed with a canned answer. He eventually became suicidal and locked himself in his bedroom.
“X’s response was ‘Thank you for reaching out. We reviewed the content and we did not find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time.'”
“How many more kids like Matthew… like Olivia… like Riley… How many more kids will suffer and die because of social media?” the video concluded, filing through numerous parents.
“Big tech failed to protect my child from sexual exploitation,” the mom said.
Several parents who appeared in the video also attended the hearing, including Riley’s mother Mary.
Also present were the parents of 12-year-old Matthew Minor, who in 2019 died while partaking in the TikTok “choking challenge;” and the parents of Mariam Radwan, who developed a severe eating disorder that left her wheelchair-bound after Instagram and TikTok algorithms turned her curiosity about healthy eating into a death trap.
“TikTok showed my 12-year-old son Matthew a video of the “choking challenge,” Matthew’s father, Todd Minor said in a statement issued after the hearing. “He tried it, and it killed him. TikTok and other platforms have enabled this deadly viral video to circulate for more than a decade, resulting in hundreds of deaths like Matthew’s.”
“The algorithms that drive Instagram and TikTok nearly killed my daughter Mariam. Curious about healthy eating, social media sucked her into a black hole of dangerous content like how to eat less than 500 cals a day or challenges to prove extreme thinness,” said Mariam’s mother, Naveen Radwan.
“She spent all four years of high school in and out of hospitals, went into cardiac arrest, and was confined to a wheelchair because of the eating disorder social media triggered. TikTok and Instagram made a lot of money off her pain,” she said.
After being told he had “blood on his hands,” by Sen. Lindsay Graham, billionaire Facebook founder Zuckerberg was compelled by Sen. Josh Hawley to stand and face the parents behind him with an apology.
“Have you apologized to the victims?” Hawley asked as Zuckerberg fumbled a response and the gallery filled with applause. “Show him the pictures! Would you like to apologize for what you’ve done to these good people?”
Facing the crowd of parents now on their feet with the photos of their children held high, Zuckerberg said “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through.”
“And this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer,” he said before turning away and sitting back down.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
