Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to defend social media's impact on teens when he testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday (31.01.24).
The Chief Executive Officer of the social media giant - the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads - is among the Big Tech companies set to defend the "positive" experiences teenagers gain from using such sites.
In part of his testimony obtained by Bloomberg, Zuckerberg said: “Teens do amazing things on our services.
“They use our apps to feel more connected, informed and entertained, as well as to express themselves, create things, and explore their interests. Overall, teens tell us this is a positive part of their lives.”
Zuckerberg insists Meta is doing everything possible to make its platforms as safe as possible for young people, with a dedicated team of 40,000 employees for safety and security. In his early remarks, he said they have forked out $20 billion since 2016 to keep teens safe and insists they are willing to work with lawmakers to make sure content is age-appropriate.
He added in his statement: “We want teens to have safe, age-appropriate experiences on our apps, and we want to help parents manage those experiences.
“That’s why in the last 8 years we’ve introduced more than 30 different tools, resources, and features to help parents and teens.”
Those in charge at ByteDance (TikTok), X, Discord Inc., and Snap Inc. will also testify in front of the Senate in Washington.
It comes after it was announced that Under-16s, and under-18s in some countries, will only be allowed to message users they already know via Direct Message on Meta's social media apps.
Amid rising pressure for social media giants to do more to protect young people online, Mark Zuckerberg's firm, confirmed the new rules to ensure teens and their parents feel more secure.
