Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims that there is no “causal link” between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes: pic.twitter.com/QZCE3UWr7G

— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) January 31, 2024

During opening remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Zuckerberg, who is on the record as encouraging his kids to play outside instead of use screens, falsely claimed social media doesn’t damage many kids’ happiness and health. …

“Don’t you think they deserve some compensation for what your platform has done? Help with counseling services help with dealing with the issues that your service has caused?” Hawley pressed, noting that profit drove Meta’s decisions.

As Zuckerberg fumbled for a response, Hawley demanded he turn towards the gallery of onlookers and apologize to the families of children Big Tech has helped harm.

“There’s families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? Would you like to do so now? Well, they’re here. You’re on national television,” Hawley said. “Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed, but you’re not showing the pictures? Would you like to apologize for what you’ve done to these good people?”

[This got a lot of attention in conservative circles, but I don’t know if this is a good idea. It was this kind of congressional baiting that pushed social-media platforms into cooperating with government demands for censorship on the basis of ‘safety.’ We’re reconstructing the incentives for the next phase of Big Brother. — Ed]