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Snapchat, Tiktok And Youtube Executives Testify Before Senate Panel

October 29, 2021

- Are Social Media Platforms causing harm to teenagers and others ? Social Platforms are forced to respond.

Social Media Executives Get Grilled over Information Dissemination Policies


Social Media Causing Harm To Young Minds ?


Citing harm done by at-risk young people on their platforms - from eating disorders to explicit content and materials encouraging addictive substances - senators, YouTube and TikTok executives sought to push legislation that would strengthen the protection of children on social media. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), himself an unlikely TikTok sensation, pointed out his proposed changes to the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to improve the protection of young social media users. All three companies agreed that parents should be able to delete online data about their children and adolescents, but Snaps VP Global Public Policy Jennifer Stout pointed out that data can disappear on schedule. 

Should The Senate Control the Dissemination of Information on Social Platforms ?


A Senate Committee on Tuesday grilled YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat executives about what social media companies are doing to ensure the safety of young users after revelations of Facebook's practices and accusations that they need to do more to prevent harmful effects on children. Born of popular social media platforms and their impact on children, the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee called on leaders to ask themselves what they are doing, if anything, to ensure the safety of younger users. The committee interviewed executives from TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, which critics say have algorithms that increase harm to children, with the aim of passing laws to protect children. 

Social Media Platforms Defend themselves Vehemently In Court

Social media executives defended their platforms on Tuesday to protect children from inappropriate content. WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators Tuesday put YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat executives on the defensive, asking them what they are doing to keep young users safe on their platforms. On Tuesday, political leaders from YouTube, Snap and TikTok turned themselves in to Congress to talk to children about online safety. It marks the first time the companies attended a major tech hearing.  Next Tuesday, executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snap will head to Capitol Hill to answer questions of the Senate Commerce Committee, which wants to know how platforms protect their young users. Tuesday's hearing marked the first time executives from TikTok, Snapchat and Snap testified outside the Capitol. It was also the first time TikTok has testified before lawmakers, though Facebook has scheduled more than 30 congressional hearings this year and YouTube executives have appeared before Congress this year.  YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat have offered tweaks and minor changes to their operations to ensure the safety of young users amid growing concerns about the potential of platforms to harm children, a panel chairman told company executives on Tuesday. Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee have expressed concern that social media platforms - which include Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok - could be used to harm children by promoting destructive acts such as school vandalism, deadly viral challenges, bullying, eating disorders and manipulative influencer marketing. But executives at TikTok, Snapchat and Snap were modest, acknowledging the need to do more to protect the platforms. 


Tik Tok, Facebook, & Snapchat are Needing Federal Regulation.


While YouTube parent company Google testified, it was the first time representatives of Snap and TikTok testified before the Congress and they came ready and ready to differentiate. Both Snap and YouTube have been trying to rid themselves of Facebook's toxic waves of regulation since chief executive Mark Zuckerberg tried to pull them out during Monday's latest profit warning. The YouTube papers that surfaced during the hearing only reinforced their desire to stand out by promising Congress more transparency about their internal research and algorithms.  But Facebook is not the only company eager to grab the attention of children and adolescents, and much of what drives the company to court young people is competition from YouTube, Snapchat, Snap, and TikTok. The video platform TikTok, popular with teenagers and young children, belongs to the Chinese company ByteDance. The company has denied allegations of conservative Republican lawmakers that it operates at the request of the Chinese government and provides personal information to its users. 

Could be the downfall Social Platforms ?


Three executives - Michael Beckerman, Vice President and Head of Public Relations for YouTube and TikTok for America, Leslie Miller, Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations for YouTubes - owner Google and Jennifer Stout - are scheduled to appear at the Tuesday committee hearing. It was not immediately clear why TikTok, Snap and YouTube were sent to talk to lawmakers. The three managers will testify at the hearing, which is expected to last about an hour.  Tok has tools such as screen time management to help parents and young people manage how long kids use the app and what they see, he said. TikTok also has those tools, Beckerman said. Miller said YouTube is working to protect children and families through parental controls, time limits and restrictions on viewing age-appropriate content. TikTok also has these tools, he says.  The three executives, together with Michael Beckerman, vice president of TikToks and head of the Department of Public Policy for America, said they had sought dialogue with lawmakers about his bipartisan legislation that would give children new privacy rights and ban targeted advertising and video-autoplay on child pornography. 

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