{"id":2163701,"date":"2024-01-31T08:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T13:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-tech-is-putting-profit-over-the-safety-of-kids-online-its-time-to-hold-them-accountable\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T08:36:19","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T13:36:19","slug":"big-tech-is-putting-profit-over-the-safety-of-kids-online-its-time-to-hold-them-accountable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-tech-is-putting-profit-over-the-safety-of-kids-online-its-time-to-hold-them-accountable\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Tech prioritizes profit over kids&#8217; online safety. They must be held accountable"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbig-tech-is-putting-profit-over-the-safety-of-kids-online-its-time-to-hold-them-accountable%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2163701&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Big Tech CEOs Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, five\u2062 CEOs of Big\u200c Tech companies \u2014 \u2062Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, \u2063and Discord \u2062\u2014 will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and make excuses for the \u200bfailure of\u200d their platforms to protect children online from harmful content, dangerous algorithms, and child predators.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">One thing is certain: These CEOs \u200dhave\u2063 a lot to\u2064 answer for.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every \u200cday, new evidence comes to light showing just how far Big Tech is willing\u2062 to go to\u200b put profit over safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Just \u200dthis month, newly released\u200b <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/tech\/children-on-instagram-and-facebook-were-frequent-targets-of-sexual-harassment-state-says-68401b07\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">internal documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  about Meta\u2019s child safety policies revealed that in 2021\u2062 an estimated 100,000 minors received sexually abusive content from adults \u2063on Facebook \u200cand Instagram \u2014 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">each day<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Although employees\u2062 warned top executives \u2063that Meta\u2019s algorithm connected minors with potential child predators, the company ignored \u200ctheir warnings and did nothing about\u200b the abuse on their platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The new information, revealed through a \u200clawsuit brought by the New Mexico Attorney General\u200b against the \u2062tech \u200bgiant, corroborates testimony from Facebook whistleblower Arturo\u200d Bejar, who testified \u200dbefore the Judiciary\u2064 Committee last November.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bejar, a former \u2062engineering director at \u2062Facebook, told us that Meta executives knew that millions of teens face\u200b bullying, eating disorder content, and sexual exploitation on their platforms. Yet Meta <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackburn.senate.gov\/2023\/11\/blackburn-blumenthal-statement-on-facebook-whistleblower-disclosures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">withheld this information<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  from congressional oversight, rolled back safety\u2063 tools, and\u200d dismantled teams responsible for children\u2019s safety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unfortunately, Meta \u200cisn\u2019t the only \u200dtech giant that is\u2063 endangering children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Across the board we\u2019ve seen social media platforms \u2014 including\u200b Snapchat, Chinese-owned TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook \u2014 become <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/19\/health\/pills-fentanyl-social-media.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">open drug \u2064markets<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  where dealers connect with children and selling them illicit \u200ddrugs, including fentanyl. \u2062Just as dealers\u200d and drug traffickers have built their distribution networks through these sites,\u2063 fentanyl has become the leading cause of death for Americans\u2064 aged 18 to \u200d45, claiming the\u200b lives \u2062of\u2064 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nida.nih.gov\/research-topics\/trends-statistics\/overdose-death-rates#:~:text=Overall%2C%20drug%20overdose%20deaths%20rose,overdose%20deaths%20reported%20in%202021.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">70,000<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  people each year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps most disturbing, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/instagram-vast-pedophile-network-4ab7189\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">reports<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  continue to emerge showing how human traffickers \u2062and\u2064 predators exploit Big Tech platforms to lure underage victims, entice American youth to participate in their smuggling\u200d operations,\u200b and traffick women and children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As hundreds\u200d of thousands of illegal \u2064immigrants enter \u2063our country each month, cartels are reportedly offering <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/13\/cartels-using-tiktok-snapchat-to-recruit-human-smugglers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">thousands of \u2064dollars<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  in cash\u200b payments on TikTok and Snapchat\u200c to\u200b recruit Americans to come to the \u2063Southern border and traffick\u2062 migrants \u2062into the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On X, formerly \u2062known\u200b as Twitter, users have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/tech-news\/musk-twitter-elon-child-abuse-material-rcna63621\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">advertised<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  the sale of\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/second-minor-sues-twitter-over-sex-trafficking-on-social-media-site\/\" title=\"Second Minor Sues Twitter Over Sex Trafficking On Social Media Site\">child sexual abuse material<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And on Discord, a messaging platform popular among minors, predators have exchanged\u2064 child sexual abuse material,\u2062 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/social-media\/discord-child-safety-social-platform-challenges-rcna89769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">groomed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  \u200cchildren\u200c for \u200cabduction, and extorted children after\u200c enticing them \u200cto share sexual \u2064images of themselves. In one case \u200bjust last year,\u200c a predator <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/tech\/social-media\/discord-child-safety-social-platform-challenges-rcna89769\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">abducted<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">  a 13-year-old girl from Texas,\u2062 raped her, and left her locked in a backyard shed after connecting\u200d with her on the messaging site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is every parent\u2019s worst\u200b nightmare. And\u2064 for years, my colleagues and \u200dI on the Senate Judiciary Committee have heard similar\u200d stories from countless parents\u200c who lost their \u200dchildren after they connected with a drug dealer, sex \u200dtrafficker, or pedophile on\u2063 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roger-stone-announces-he-will-sue-those-who-arrested-him-and-put-him-in-front-of-a-kangaroo-court\/\" title=\"Roger Stone Announces He Will Sue Those Who Arrested Him and Put Him In Front of a Kangaroo Court\">social media site<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, Big Tech executives have made excuse after excuse over their failure\u2062 to stop\u2063 the rampant abuse, malicious content, and criminality on their platforms. But nothing \u200dhas \u200dchanged.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If Big Tech \u2063won\u2019t act, Congress must step in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s \u2063why Senator Blumenthal (D-CT) and I have introduced the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/senate-bill\/1409\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kids Online Safety Act<\/a>, which would\u200b provide \u200dparents and children with the tools,\u200c safeguards, and transparency\u2064 they need to protect \u200dagainst\u2063 online harms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This bipartisan\u200b legislation includes crucial provisions to hold Big Tech companies accountable: requirements that\u200c platforms give minors the option to protect\u2064 their personal \u2062information\u200d and opt \u200bout of algorithmic recommendations by default; new controls\u2062 for parents to \u200bidentify harmful \u2063behavior \u2062and \u2063report abuse directly\u2062 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iraq-bans-the-usage-of-word-homosexuality-in-media\/\" title=\"Iraq prohibits the use of the term 'homosexuality' in media.\">social media\u2063 sites<\/a>; and mandatory audits to ensure that platforms are \u2062mitigating harms to \u2064children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alongside Senator Ossoff (D-GA), I\u2019ve also led the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/senate-bill\/474\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">REPORT Act<\/a>, which would\u2063 provide the National Center for \u200dMissing and Exploited Children and law enforcement with the tools\u200c they need\u2063 to crack down on online child sex abuse material\u2062 and child trafficking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along\u200d with many other important measures, the bill, which unanimously passed\u200c the Senate last month, would make \u200cthe reporting of\u2063 child trafficking\u2064 and enticement mandatory\u200b for online platforms, incurring fines of up to $1 million for each offense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Without real and enforceable reforms, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-poll-watcher-it-expert-non-trump-supporter-affidavit-sudden-surge-of-20000-mail-in-votes-for-biden-in-early-hours-on-nov\/\" title=\"GA Poll Watcher, IT Expert, Non-Trump Supporter Affidavit: Sudden Surge of 20,000 Mail-In-Votes For Biden In Early Hours On Nov\">social media companies<\/a> will \u200bonly continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-lefts-push-to-cancel-conservative-media-isnt-fighting-disinformation-its-censorship\/\" title=\"The Left\u2019s Push To Cancel Conservative Media Isn\u2019t \u2018Fighting Disinformation.\u2019 It\u2019s Censorship.\">pay lip service<\/a> to the issue of protecting children \u2014 while \u200dputting profits over their safety. These important pieces of\u2064 legislation\u200b will help bring this charade \u200dto an \u2062end.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">U.S. \u200bSenator Marsha Blackburn represents\u200b the state of Tennessee \u200dand serves\u200d on \u2063the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in \u200cthis piece are those of the author and\u200c do not necessarily represent those of\u200c The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What\u200b are the proposed \u2064measures in the Kids-Safe Online Act to ensure Big\u2063 Tech \u2062companies hire and retain dedicated teams to proactively detect and remove child abuse material, extremist content, and other harmful content \u200bfrom their platforms?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  ><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kids-Safe Online Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which would hold Big Tech companies accountable for safeguarding children on their platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Kids-Safe\u2063 Online Act would require\u200d Big Tech companies to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Implement\u200d effective age verification systems\u200d to prevent underage users from accessing harmful\u200b content<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hire\u200d and retain dedicated teams to proactively detect and remove child abuse material, extremist content, \u200cand other harmful content from\u200b their platforms<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Invest in\u200d research and \u200cdevelopment to develop new technologies to protect children online<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cooperate \u200dwith law enforcement agencies to report and prevent \u2063child exploitation and other illegal activities<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is \u2063time for Big Tech to prioritize the safety of children above their own profits. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parents should be able to \u2063trust that when their children go online, they will be protected from exploitation and harm. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the CEOs of Meta, X, TikTok,\u200b Snap, \u2063and Discord testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, they must be held accountable for the harm their platforms have \u2063caused and the lack \u200bof action taken to protect children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lies and excuses must end. We need real solutions to ensure the\u200c safety\u2062 of our \u200dchildren online.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord CEOs. They must address their platforms&#8217; shortcomings in safeguarding children from harmful content, dangerous algorithms, and predators. Undoubtedly, these CEOs bear significant responsibility and must be held accountable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1212,"featured_media":2163702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1556569378.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2163701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1556569378.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2163702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}