YouTube, TikTok, Snap defend impact on children

WASHINGTON • Social media companies YouTube, TikTok and Snap sought to distance themselves from rival Facebook as lawmakers pressed for legislation to codify privacy protections for children and teenagers on their platforms.

Executives from the three firms appeared on Tuesday at a Senate committee hearing a day after a consortium of 17 news outlets, including Bloomberg, published dozens of articles based on troves of leaked Facebook data that detailed how the company prioritised profits over the safety of users - particularly teenagers - on its products.

The Senate Commerce Committee's consumer protection panel, led by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, examined efforts by Alphabet's YouTube, ByteDance's TikTok as well as Snap to protect the privacy of children and teenagers online.

Mr Blumenthal said there is bipartisan urgency to move forward with legislation on regulating these companies. "Whether it's Facebook or your companies, in various ways I think you have shown that we can't trust Big Tech to police itself," he said.

Mr Blumenthal dismissed the current company policies that the executives said protect young people and teens, saying "there's no way to hold you accountable under current law".

He said technology companies should not be relying on parents to protect their children's privacy on their platforms and that the features need to be built in.

"Being different from Facebook is not a defence. What we want is not a race to the bottom, but really a race to the top," he said.

The witnesses included Mr Michael Beckerman, TikTok's vice-president and head of public policy for the Americas; Ms Jennifer Stout, Snap's president of global public policy; and Ms Leslie Miller, YouTube's vice-president of government affairs and public policy.

The Senate sub-committee previously heard from Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen, the former product manager who leaked documents to the committee and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

She highlighted how Facebook's engagement-based algorithms lead harmful content to become viral on the platform. She said these algorithms particularly affect teenage girls who already have negative views of their bodies.

The three social media companies attempted to set themselves apart from Facebook in their approach to online safety.

The hearing marked the first appearance of TikTok and Snap before Congress.

Last week, Mr Blumenthal separately invited Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the sub-committee in a future hearing.

Snap emphasised that one of its strongest privacy protections is that it allows only users aged 13 and up, and has no plans to market to children under 13.

TikTok highlighted specific actions it has taken to protect children's safety in recent years, including disabling the direct messaging feature for users under age 16.

YouTube's Ms Miller told the panel that YouTube Kids, created in 2015, provides parents with tools to control and customise the app for children.

Mr Blumenthal asked whether the three social media platforms would support his legislation - known as the Earn It Act - which would make tech companies liable for child sexual abuse material on their platforms.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the measure during the last session of Congress, and Mr Blumenthal said he plans to reintroduce it in the coming weeks.

All three platforms said they supported the intentions and goals of the proposed legislation, but did not go as far as saying they support the measure.

BLOOMBERG