The CEO’s of five leading social media companies showed up to Congress today where they were grilled by Senators on both sides of the aisle for more than three hours. At the center of the questioning was concern over children, specifically the spread of child sex abuse images on the various sites.
Child sex images and videos are more widely available than ever, according to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit that tracks such material for the U.S. government. The organization said reports of the content on online platforms grew from 32 million in 2022 to a record high of more than 36 million in 2023. It’s found a persistent foothold on major tech platforms like Facebook, despite years of efforts to eliminate it.
Senators convened the hearing — focused on child sexual abuse material, or CSAM — amid a groundswell of support for…
