麻豆约拍

Chief executive officers of major social media platforms, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta - which owns Instagram and Facebook - TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Snap, and Discord have testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee about child protection online.

House lawmakers are finding rare bipartisan support for their Kids Online Safety Act, which seeks to fight online child sexual abuse.

Senators questioned the bosses of the tech giants on efforts to combat online exploitation of children amid increasing calls for regulations to ensure online safety, with various bills including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), being introduced.

Among many bereaved parents in the audience was Deb Schmill who lost her daughter Becca after years of cyberbullying which she says led to the use of illicit drugs which she bought online.

Ms Schill gave her take on what she heard, but first she told Newsday about her daughter.

"Becca was funny, sweet, kind, loving - I know I'm biased but she was just a wonderful person. When she was 15... she was raped. She felt really empty, she used to say she had a hole in her chest and filled that with drugs [which eventually] took her life."

"The social media companies are supposed to remove people who don't follow the community guidelines. We have people dealing drugs online and the social media companies could be taking those accounts down and they're not. They haven't invested in safety and they're not putting enough money into keeping kids safe."

(Pic: Audience members hold photos of loved ones during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on protecting children from sexual exploitation online; Credit: EPA)

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