Senator Marsha Blackburn criticized Facebook for hiring a large number of lawyers and lobbyists to shield the company from regulation, particularly regarding child safety online.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, she questioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the company’s efforts to combat online child sexual exploitation.
Blackburn accused Meta of funding various organizations to fight bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting children online.
“There is a lot that is slipping through,” Blackburn said.
“The problem is, Sen. [Peter] Welch over there, we have been working on this stuff for a decade, you have an army of lawyers and lobbyists that have fought us on this every step of the way,” she said.
“You work with NetChoice, the CATO Institute, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Chamber of Progress to actually fight our bipartisan legislation to keep kids safe online. So are you going to stop funding these groups? Are you going to stop lobbying against this and come to the table and work with us? Yes or no?” she asked.
“Of course, we will work with you on the legislation,” Zuckerberg said.
Blackburn also introduced the EARN IT Act, which seeks to address child online sexual exploitation by amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and establishing a National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention.
She urged big tech CEOs to collaborate on the issue, emphasizing the urgency of the matter.
“The door is open, we’ve got all of these bills, you need to come to the table, each and every one of you [the big tech CEOs] need to come to the table, and you need to work with us, kids are dying,” she said.
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