Lawmakers on Wednesday denounced the chief executives of Meta, TikTok, X, Snap and Discord, accusing them of creating “a crisis in America” by willfully ignoring the harmful content against children on their platforms, as concerns over the effect of technology on youths have mushroomed.
In a highly charged 3.5-hour hearing, members of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee raised their voices and repeatedly castigated the five tech leaders — who run online services that are very popular with teenagers and younger children — for prioritizing profits over the well-being of youths. Some said the companies had “blood on their hands” and that users “would die waiting” for them to make changes to protect children. At one point, lawmakers compared the tech companies to cigarette makers.
At one point, lawmakers compared the tech companies to cigarette makers.
Ironically, the republicans did everything in their power to protect cigarette makers, alcohol companies, soda companies, and the gun industry, and want to bring back child labor.
They don’t just want to, they’re succeeding.
LiberalGunNut® here. I’m pissed as hell with conservatives protecting gun manufacturers. Even more so with the NRA.
They’re doing fine, thank you very much.
Why the hell is the government trying to “protect” private concerns?! Small government anyone? If y’all knew what I know about gun manufacturing, you would scream.
How many manufacturers can you name? Right now. Go.
“Uh… Glock… Smith & Wesson, uh… I think Remington is still a thing?”
LOL, I got 40 guns from manufacturers you liberals have never heard of. Turns out, it’s pretty easy to put a chunk of lead down a tube.
Stop attacking the builders, attack our toxic culture. Sorry, went off a bit…
I grew up with guns, I’ve owned a lot of them myself, and I have both shot and been shot at in a professional capacity when my government sent me to a place with some very angry people in it. I even owned a Glock and a Remington and a Mossberg and those black rifles with two letter names. I owned a Ruger and a 1911 style .45. If I did feel the need for a gun to defend my home, I’d jump through the hoops to get an HK MP5SD because it fires subsonic and is easier to control, as well as easier on the ears when you’re firing inside. My favorite handgun caliber is the .45 ACP, because it has less snap than the 9mm and I find I am more accurate with it. I also qualified as Marksman with rifle and Expert with pistol, and I was on my high school’s pistol team.
So, I also know a bit about guns. Thanks for asking!
I ended up a research scientist, and wound up working on modeling public health and healthcare systems, so I can also talk about guns from a social and a semiotic perspective. Both are actually quite fascinating. My first undergrad degree was in military history, so I can talk about the development of firearms over time and how the different innovations changed the nature of warfare. I can talk about why American people think they need guns, and why the rest of the developed world thinks those ideas are utterly deranged.
I could go on all night about it, but I doubt either of us would convince the other.
I’m tired of the protect-the-children tactic. It deflects all the attentions to only one aspect. When the EU used it to kill end-to-end encryption, we saw how it undermined the privacy concerns about destroying the encryption. Politicians became useless, and it was security experts whose letter miraculously stopped the assault on privacy at the last minute.
This problem actually leads to a larger problematic pattern found among most politicians. They pick a handy excuse (like protect the children) to simplify a complex social problem into a degenerate political theatrics, so that they can ignore the opponents and look strong on TVs.
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Zuckerberg responded by saying, “Oh my God! I’ve violated Asimov’s first rule! What have I DOOOOONE?!” and exploding on the spot.
As always with these kind of issues, the one thing I’m not seeing being brought up is the irresponsible parenting that is just as bad. Because parents stopped being parents by letting their kids get involved with these things and not having the knowledge in how to properly deal with these issues.
Congress also kills people, so there’s that.
And why do I get the sense that what they mean by “sexual exploitation” is kids becoming trans? That’s… not the same thing? (tbf I don’t actually know what they mean there, and I no longer care enough to research further)
It’s because it’s literally the point. https://www.them.us/story/kosa-senator-blackburn-censor-trans-content
Thanks, I couldn’t handle researching that further right not but it’s good to know.:-)
Alcohol industry: “First time?”
I could see most of those, but discord? It’s basically an online cellphone
Discord is very known for being full of kids and sadly full of groomers as well. They also do very little about it and let servers just govern themselves which is no surprise to anyone who‘s read a little bit about the devs behind it.
I mean, sure, but I feel it probably wasn’t the greatest unmasking. Some of the stuff was just plain ignorant and embarrassing … for the lawmakers. Like this exchange with the Tik Tok CEO. I feel like they probably don’t really understand what they are up-in-arms about. 🤷♀️
Auto industry next, please.
“But that’s the point”, Tech Leaders responded.
Only been going on for 2,000 years…
"He says I am a wrongdoer because I corrupt the youth. But I, men of Athens, say Meletus is a wrongdoer, because he jokes in earnest, lightly involving people in a lawsuit, pretending to be zealous and concerned about things or which he never cared at all. And that this is so I will try to make plain to you also.
Come here, Meletus, tell me: don’t you consider it [24d] of great importance that the youth be as good as possible? “I do.” Come now, tell these gentlemen who makes them better? For it is evident that you know, since you care about it. For you have found the one who corrupts them, as you say, and you bring me before these gentlemen and accuse me; and now, come, tell who makes them better and inform them who he is. Do you see, Meletus, that you are silent and cannot tell? And yet does it not seem to you disgraceful and a sufficient proof of what I say, that you have never cared about it? But tell, my good man, who [24e] makes them better? “The laws.” But that is not what I ask, most excellent one, but what man, who knows in the first place just this very thing, the laws. “These men, Socrates, the judges.” What are you saying, Meletus? Are these gentlemen able to instruct the youth, and do they make them better? “Certainly.” All, or some of them and others not? “All.” Well said, by Hera, and this is a great plenty of helpers you speak of. But how about this?
[25a] Do these listeners make them better, or not? “These also.” And how about the senators? “The senators also.” But, Meletus, those in the assembly, the assemblymen, don’t corrupt the youth, do they? or do they also all make them better? “They also.” All the Athenians, then, as it seems, make them excellent, except myself, and I alone corrupt them. Is this what you mean? “Very decidedly, that is what I mean.” You have condemned me to great unhappiness! But answer me; does it seem to you to be so in the case of horses, that those who [25b] make them better are all mankind, and he who injures them some one person? Or, quite the opposite of this, that he who is able to make them better is some one person, or very few, the horse-trainers, whereas most people, if they have to do with and use horses, injure them? Is it not so, Meletus, both in the case of horses and in that of all other animals? Certainly it is, whether you and Anytus deny it or agree; for it would be a great state of blessedness in the case of the youth if one alone corrupts them, and the others do them good. But, [25c] Meletus, you show clearly enough that you never thought about the youth, and you exhibit plainly your own carelessness, that you have not cared at all for the things about which you hale me into court.
But besides, tell us, for heaven’s sake, Meletus, is it better to live among good citizens, or bad? My friend, answer; for I am not asking anything hard. Do not the bad do some evil to those who are with them at any time and the good some good? “Certainly.” Is there then anyone who [25d] prefers to be injured by his associates rather than benefited? Answer, my good man; for the law orders you to answer. Is there anyone who prefers to be injured? “Of course not.” Come then, do you hale me in here on the ground that I am corrupting the youth and making them worse voluntarily or involuntarily? “Voluntarily I say.” What then, Meletus? Are you at your age so much wiser than I at my age, that you have recognized that the evil always do some evil [25e] to those nearest them, and the good some good; whereas I have reached such a depth of ignorance that I do not even know this, that if I make anyone of my associates bad I am in danger of getting some harm from him, so that I do this great evil voluntarily, as you say? I don’t believe this, Meletus, nor do I think anyone else in the world does!"
Just wait until they find out about coat hangers.
Regulate monopolies!
They can come to lemmy. We don’t have problems here
