voice by going to our website c-span.org/campaign2024. select to record your voice kept and record a video telling us your issue and why. c-span's voices 2024, be a part of the conversation. >> let's start with one of the key moments from yesterday's hearing, a rare occurrence when the ceo of matter mark zuckerberg stood up and apologize to the families who are gathered for the hearing. families who blame the social media companies for victimizing children. >> do you know was sitting behind you? you've got families from across the nation whose children are either severely harmed or gone kind you don't think it's appropriate to take can't talk up steps that you took? the fact he didn't fire -- on as do this. have you compensate any of the victim? >> sorry? >> have you compensated any of

the victims? have you compensated them? >> i don't believe so. >> why not? don't you think they deserve some compensation for what your platform has done, help with counseling service come help with the with the issues your service has caused. >> was our job is to make sure we build tools to keep people safe. >> are you going to compensate them? >> our job and what we take seriously is making sure that we build industry-leading tools to find harmful -- taken off the services -- >> to make money. >> to build tools to empower parents. >> say didn't take any action come you didn't fire anybody. you have come sit a single -- on the s2 this. there's families of victims are today. have you apologize to the victims? >> i -- >> would you like to do so now? they're here. your national television. would you like now to apologize to the victims of been harmed by -- show him the pictures. would you like to apologize for what you done to these good people?

[applause] [inaudible]pp [inaudible] >> mark zuckerberg ceo of meta apologizing for the platform, facebook, instagram that the company owns and the problems it's caused for families across the country. this morning we want you to be part of this conversation. the debate that's happening in washington, is more regulation needed for the social media companies? again live in eastern and central part of the country style in at 202-748-8000. 202-748-8000. mountain/pacific area you're lying today is 202-748-8001. you can also text us to

202-748-8003. facebook.com/c-span3 to be part of the conversation and on x with the handle @cspanwj. a recent poll done by pew research found the support for the u.s. government and tech companies restricting false information online has risen steadily in recent years. most americans say the government and technology companies should each take steps to restrict false information in the extreme of violent content online. however there is more support for tech companies moderating these types of content than for the federal government doing so, according to this pew research poll. do you agree with that, that this regulation needs to come from the companies themselves and not from the federal government, forcing them to do so? join the conversation and let us know. mark zuckerberg told the

lawmakers yesterday before the senate judiciary committee that this is what his company has been doing picky set his platform has about 40,000 people working on o safety issues, and his company, this is in the "washington e washington times, and his company has spent more than 20 billion on the issues since 2016. here's the headline. this is a story story in washington times. senators rage social media over child safety. executives pledged to do a better job protecting his bowlers and predators. here's another moment on the hearing yesterday. this when the new senator from california laphonza butler question the cofounder of snapchat about the middle east to keep kids from using the platform to buy drugs. >> mr. spiegel, there are a number of parents whose children been able to access illegal

drugs on your platform. what do you say to those parents? >> senator, we're devastated that we cannot -- >> to the parents. what you say to those parents, mr. spiegel? >> i'm so, so i would not been able to prevent these tragedies. we work very hard to block all search terms were there to drugs from our platform. we proactively look for and detect drug relateded content. we remove her from her platform, presented as evidence. then would refer to law enforcement for action. we have worked together with nonprofits and with families on education campaigns because the scale of the federal epidemic is extrudate there over 100,000 foster lives question we believe people need to know one pill can kill. that camping reach more than, did more than 260 million times wean also launched -- >> that are two fathers in december lost their sons, they are 16 years old. their children were able to get those pills from snapchat.

i know that there are statistics at a know that there are good efforts. none of those efforts are keeping our kids from getting access to those drugs on your platform. as california company, all of you, i talk with you about what it means to be a good neighbor and what california families an american families should be expecting from you. you owe them more than just a set of statistics. and i look forward to you showing up on all pieces of his legislation, all of you showing up on all pieces of legislation to keep our children safe. >> host: california senator butler questioning snapchat cofounder about buying drugs on its platform. ceos of the companies discord, x, snapchat, meta all before the senate judiciary committee yesterday, and it was bipartisan

grilling from the senators. kathleen and colorado springs colorado what you say on this question? should these social media companies be regulated and should be the federal government? >> caller: well, i, i'm in the middle of this. i'm a self-employed business owner that's a small business, but also appreciate what all of these businesses have done. and we're just as a country and as individuals looking for pocket to pick. someonee to blame when we are nt parenting, when we don't have time, when were not doing our job. and i do feel offended that were spending more time and money pointing fingers and looking for someone to pay the bill, when

what's really happened is that we haven't been parenting, as we've all needed to. >> host: kathleen. facebook, eelg which are to say. parents need to do more relation of children in their internetpa usage. all those exetis testified to congress yesterday donate to e same congress people asking the questions. th gernment is not doing, going to do something. that's your job. mona in charlottesville, virginia. what do you say? >> caller: yes. i am very upset with the negativity that callers have expressed. i know i have some coworkers who had been damaged with social media, and i don't understand why we cannot regulate a company that makes money. this is a money issue.

and they -- we talk about -- >> host: mona, you dropped off of there. we talk about what? >> caller: when we talk about the social media companies who are making money off of our children and young adults. i have coworkers who have been damaged and have had to have counseling behind social media. i don't deal with social media. i understand that our small businesses that survive through social media. however, we regulate everythings else, air, water. companies that give us services. yet, we can't seem to regulate social media companies. so on that understanding what the holdup is. there are -- >> host: the point made by

senators yesterday, some of them, was they were likening the social sites to tobacco makers, big tobacco who fought regulation four years from congress. and also one senator saying when boeing haday problems with its planes, the government agency rounded those planes, and what are they doing? what is congress doing to protect children? joe in red bank new jersey. what you see on this question? >> caller: i say that yes, the devil has to be regulated by the federal government because it's a nationwide problem. not just a problem in any one state. they have gotten away with not being rated it four years. they all made make thousan, millions of dollars, billions of dollars. it's something that i wouldn't be surprised if you came back one year from today, the problem

still exists in a way it did yesterday afternoon. because the congressman and the senators depend on business interest and companies like the one, the computer companies to get money for their reelection campaigns the congressman and senators have a conflict of reinterest. they want to regulate the companies avails what the companies to pay for the reelection campaign. it's a a big problem. people have to pay attention to it. they can't just letet it slide. >> host: so listen to this from the "washington post" reporting today. this is a frontt. page story on the front page. the senate judiciary committee leader said they hoped the hearing help build momentum for a package of bills aimed at curbing child the views mature online, including by allowing victims to sue companies for facilitating and by making it more difficult for platforms to dismiss such lawsuits. the latter seeks to narrow

industry protections afforded under section 230, the besieged besieged legal shield that immunizes digital services from lawsuits for hosting and moderating user content, which senators repeatedly attacked wednesday. the panel advance the bills with broad bipartisan support in may but the measures has installed with no clear timetable for them to be taken up by the full chamber. joe, what do you think about the idea behind the regulations, allowing them to be sued, not allowing them community behind section 230? >> caller: those are all good ideas. i would add provisions that would increase penalties and jail time for hackers and also deeply regulate companies like tiktok, which is a front company for communist china. but i i think the most important section that you read was the

last couple of sentences were you said the bill stalled in congress with no clear idea on when it's going tost pass. unless people get after these guys and have them pay more attention to what's going on,, this problem is going to keep continuing indefinitely. >> host: and to your point, while congress of looked on, states have passed an array of laws to either require tech companies to build more stringent privacy and safety to bar teenagers from accessingr social media altogether unless they get their parents approval. but many of the most sweeping measures are facing legal challenges from the tech industry or have been halted in court which could come which child safety advocacy has underscored the need for congressional action. we want to get your reaction to what i just read from the "washington post" reporting. is it something regulation that should be done, and if so,

should it happen on the state level or the federal level? eastern/central part of the country call us at 202-748-8000. mountain pacific-8 202-748-8001. steve fletcher from you in pennsylvania. steve in pennsylvania. there you go. hey, steve. go head. >> good morning, greta. you got me there. okay. a simple comment. i don't believe that the problem will be solved as long as posters remain anonymous. if you write a letter to your newspaper, they publishri your name and your city. when i called in this morning to c-span, i was asked my first name and my zip code, simple

identification. as things stand there's really no repercussion for about anything that you post on social media. the responsibility lies with the posters, and you can't expect young kids to make intelligent posts and last they feel they'll get some repercussions for bullying or any of the other problems that we see on social media. so that's my comment, and have great morning, happy groundhog day tomorrow. >> host: stephen pennsylvania. here is chat on facebook. absolutely come he says. regulate the social media companies. i prose anre age limit of 18 and civil penalties for failure to enforce? we have the technology to do this. you can react to chad or any

other caller y■@ou've heard this morning, or the reporting on whether debate stands in washington over regulating the social media companies. michael in massachusetts you are next. >> caller: how are you? can you hear me okay? >> host: yes, we can. >> caller: thanks. i think the callers have made a lot of great points. i think it's a multipronged approach. it is never one answer. it does come down to parroting. he comes down to educating the kids. there is the degree of regulation already in effect, but i think we can do more to make the social media companies accountable. >> host: what is the degree of regulation from the fcc? >> caller: that i'm not familiar with. there are some guidelines that think that i think we can do more.

and have those senators up their grandstanding like to do just to get value points -- brownie points. they about to make changes but they are hypocrites. i think the social media companies don't do enough to identify who is using their platform. they may have the power to block as much as they want or can within regulations are within whatever the rule sets are that we can come up with, and a simple solution is then tiktok. they are ownedti by the chinese government. they are allowed to promulgate their garbage all over the place, and the social media companies are allowed to steal our personal data. they are using my personal data. they are making money off of it. i don't get a dime from it. every time were on the internet searching or using the social media platforms, which i don't use, i get rid of all that garbage a long time ago, but still there able to make a lot

of money off of our backs and we don't do anything for it. i think we can hold them accountable from a government standpoint and to make them self regulate and if they don't, block their platforms. you think you should be able to see these companies? >> caller: absolutely. i think if there's a data breach or someone sees my personal data for their benefit and i'm getting hacked, they have a responsibility i have responsibility to secure myself and basically what i do is i don't do any social media at all.l. >> host: what about the argument some senators are making yesterday pointing to the families in the room, some of whom had lost children by suicide say they should be able to sue you because their child committed suicide after being bullied online, or whatever the circumstances were. >> caller: yeah, that's a tough call. i mean i have a lot of sympathy

for anyone who succumbs to that but i think suicide is a conditional issue with those people that unfortunately succumbed to that. so iho don't know if you can hod the platform responsible for some and committing suicide, but i think we can hold them accountable for not s being responsible to do as much as humanly possible to protect children and, and our nation from all of this misinformation and everything else that's going on. i think they could play a much better will and a think they are full of garbage to be honest with you. they make so much money, and like one of the caller said they contribute to all theseenators and politicians. hell, we can't even get a daylight savings time adjustment, you know, permanent adjustment something simple like that, you know? we're expecting these senators

and congresspeople to help usou. i think it's a multipronged approach. children education, parenting, strong parenting, a little bit of regulation and a lot of accountability on the social media companies to be responsible. >> host: michael summed it up. "washington post", ," senate presses tech ceos of online exploitation of children. again in the "washington post" reported lawmakers acknowledged wednesday that the own failure to act has contributed to the ongoing problems with child abuse on the internet. do we bear some of the blame? absolute, says senator lindsey graham, after the hearing. william in miamisburg ohio. >> caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i'm just an old tennessee at a voice said? , politicians and -- scuff their own three ring circus before returning it us is whenever they

want money or election time. i wouldn't waste my valuable time to go vote for one of them crooks. it's just bashing. i feel so sorry for my nine little great grandkids. they're not going to stand at china's chance in the hot water. it's just a shame that we have let these crooks, politicians take over. and then this technology of computer, i said it would take the world down when you first came out, , and i'm still a firm believer of it. and then crooks back it, and then now we've got bitcoin. it's just one thing after another. thank you greta. >> host: on facebook, are we reallyking, a text, really talking about rulating websites when the biggest threat to children is guns and

shoong so tired of the formative politics. and in washington, d.c., how do you answer thisstion? >> caller: yes. good morning. the issue is when you get a cell phone, facebook, the app is automatically in the cell phone. there's nothing you can do to remove the program or the app because if youou do it says that it's going to reset your phone. i have really big issue with facebook. actually i just logged out of the account permanently. but the fact that facebook is so huge that on any android device it's automatically installed as an app for you to use it i find

that extremely problematic. it's not a search engine light being or google so the fact that they have that much influence to me is a really big issue. tranfive that's interesting because facebook, meta the company, and other social media companies are saying it's the phone maker, apple, android, et cetera, they're the ones ones that should take responsibility for allowing children to get these apps in the first place. that there should be a safeguard for children on a phone, and if they want to download an app that is apples responsibility or google or samsung to not -- at a certain age to have that app. without parental approval. >> caller: right, which is a catch-22 for facebook.

now, instagram, x, those apps you have to go into the actual app store to download. but facebook? that add comes preprogrammed and any new android device that you have. so for facebook to try and say oh well, that's saint-saens or some also sponsor is really them just, you know, they are really trying to play politics with their because their app is pre-downloaded into that phone. and i'm pretty sure they entered into an agreement with samsung and apple to do that. soor say that to me is just really mind-boggling. >> host: don on facebook says you lost me at more regulation. that is a question. is more regulation needed for social media companies?

please join the conversation this morning. washington is debating what to do, so it's your opportunity to tell these lawmakers what you would like them to do. how do want them to act on this? more regulation or not? alex in texas. good morning. >> caller: good morning. it's really simple. i just hope it's up these social media, they're not the issue. it's parenting. every social media app has tranten service, age restriction and everything. why can't a parent not keep the kids off of the social medias? it's as simple as that. and iphone has parental controls for a parent to use the keep you from dowoading anything you don't want to see. you're letting your children talk to befriend the people all day everyday. what are you doing about it? why are you blaming mark zuckerberg? because your kid is doing something wrong under your supervision. >> host: jackson in wilmington, north carolina.

>> caller: i think it should be regulated. med it is too big. [inaudible] nothing but but a slap on t. i think you return, slap them on the balls tremont skyler, albuquerque, new mexico. skyler. >> i i think there should be moe regulation. -- [inaudible] my question is why are the senate like chuck schumer why are they groveling to these companies? what are they groveling? trumpism going to crawl. he will piracy we need more -- back when bill clinton was president we did have social media but kids are still buying drugs and doing things that were outside the fence because parents were not paying attention. when breaking bad was on tv when a look at breaking bad this is encourage people to buy more

drugs, right? that wasn't going on. what really is going on is that we have these big companies online that are not broken up with things like amazon with no competition. with facebook that actually has no competition in terms of its personal social media. you could say twitter would be competition for facebook but is not. it's completely different social platform. nothing like facebook. facebook is the only thing of its kind, stealing data, taking our information that we didn't even say we wanted taken. we have to look at these and see more regulation make sure these billionaires are getting what is theirs because they need to be taxable as and be looked into because we are just users. we're not the problem. if the people making these companies are trying to make more money off the backs of innocent people. have a good day. >> host: who is using the social media sites?■n according to pew research the youngest u.s. adults are far more likely to use instagram, snapchat, and tiktok.

the age differences are less pronounced for facebook. these are the ages of the users for these different platforms. these are the youngest people age 65 plus, ages 50-64 in the green. the blue represents the younger population, and their presence on these different platforms. connie on facebook says tiktok should be banned. tiktok representative for the u.s. was at that hearing yesterday. lots a conversation about whether or not tiktok should be banned. we will show you a little bit of that back and forth between senators as well this morning. jerome in lancaster, california, let's hear from you first. jerome, go ahead. >> caller: i believe they should create a new platform

comes use the united states post office to create a citizens platform that would be separate from the for-profit entertainment-based platforms that exist. and that would be a communication platform for honest debate and communication free from the propaganda conspiracy theories and lies that helped to create the division in this country with today. instead of regulation just create a platform somewhere like c-span where there's honest debate. >> host: jerome in california. more conversation with all of you on this question. is more regulation needed for social media companies? keep dilate and join us on facebook a post on x or send us a text. joining us from capitol hill now is congresswoman chrissy houlahan, member of the armed services and intelligence committee, a democrat from pennsylvania.