The United States Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to grill five tech CEOs about their companies’ apparent lack of effort to prevent extortion of children on their respective social media platforms.
In a particularly emotional statement during the hearing, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) accused Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow associates of being responsible for numerous suicides committed by those who have been the victim of online extortion schemes on his platforms. Meta operates Facebook and Instagram, two of the most popular social media sites in the world.
“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us. I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” Graham said. “You have a product that’s killing people.”
Graham is the ranking member of the powerful committee charged with identifying ways the Senate can craft laws to protect Americans.
Social media sites have recently come under fire as news of suicides by minors who have become embroiled in extortion schemes online has increased. South Carolina Rep. Brandon Guffey (R-Rock Hill) is one of the many parents dealing with the fallout from the lack of regulation of social media sites. Guffey’s 17-year-old son, Gavin, was targeted by scammers operating out of Nigeria who threatened to expose illicit photographs of the boy unless he paid a ransom.
The scammers posed as a young woman to trick Gavin into sending the photos using a feature called “Vanish Mode,” which deletes messages after they are read. After Gavin sent photos, the scammers threatened to publish the images if he didn’t send money. Unable to comply, Gavin took his own life that evening.
“They threatened the young man that if you don’t give us money, we’re going to expose these photos. He gave them money, but it wasn’t enough. They kept threatening, and he killed himself. They threatened Mr. Guffey and [his] son. These are bastards. By any known definition,” Graham said.
Guffey is currently suing Meta, alleging that the site knows about the risks that certain features pose to children and does not prevent harmful conduct.
The trend of scammers using online platforms to extort money from minors is a growing issue and one that social media sites have made only modest efforts to prevent. According to information from the FBI, the agency received more than 13,000 reports of “sextortion” between October 2021 and March 2023, as reported by The Dallas Express. Young males are the primary target of the scammers, who tend to be located in Western African countries.
Graham and other members of the Judiciary Committee are preparing a package of bills that will rein in social media platforms’ ability to avoid prosecution. Graham highlighted that Congress has taken steps to hold cigarette manufacturers and firearms companies liable for the results of their products, but social media companies are largely shielded from being held accountable.
“We live in an America in 2024 where there is no regulatory body dealing with the most profitable, biggest companies in the history of the world,” Graham said. “They can’t be sued. And there’s not one law on the books that’s meaningful in protecting the American consumer.”
Zuckerberg apologized to families gathered at the hearing, but did not directly address the comments from Graham. He was also noncommittal about supporting proposed legislation that would require greater accountability of social media tech companies.
