X, TikTok, Meta CEOs to Be Grilled by Senators Who Say They’re Not Protecting Kids from Online Sexual Exploitation

The CEOs of X, TikTok, Meta and other major social media sites will be on the hot seat on Capitol Hill this week when a Senate panel convenes a hearing on their “failure” to protect children from online sexual exploitation.

The tech industry is under intense scrutiny as pictures and videos depicting child pornography proliferate online. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received 31.9 million reports of suspected possession, manufacture, or distribution of child pornography online in 2022, 47% more than in 2020.

“We’ve known from the beginning that our efforts to protect children online would be met with hesitation from Big Tech,” Dick Durbin, the Democrat chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Lindsey Graham, the ranking Republican member, wrote in a statement announcing the hearing in November. “They finally are being forced to acknowledge their failures when it comes to protecting kids.”