U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) says “it’s unbelievable” that the share price of Meta — owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — skyrocketed in the days after its founder Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress and apologized to the families whose children were harmed by exposure to transgressive content on Meta platforms.
Hawley says Meta and other technology giants like TikTok’s owner and X (formerly Twitter) are “making money hand over fist on destroying America’s children.” Hawley cites statistics from the CyberTipline that attest to 30+ million reports of “child sex abuse material” on the platforms in 2022 alone.
You want to know who’s responsible for the child porn & sex abuse material all over the internet? Congress. Because Congress gave Big Tech a sweetheart deal. No more. Let victims sue pic.twitter.com/zrAuyBQbmr
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) February 6, 2024
“These platforms are absolutely littered with, overrun with, awash with this material,” Hawley says, citing the testimony of parents and executives from the major tech companies.
But Hawley — while excoriating the irresponsible stewardship of the platforms by the tech executives who prioritize profit over safety — has another target, too: Congress.
In sharing the video above, Hawley writes: “You want to know who’s responsible for the child porn & sex abuse material all over the internet? Congress. Because Congress gave Big Tech a sweetheart deal. No more. Let victims sue.”
That “sweetheart deal” refers to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which still largely governs where responsibility lies in the internet ecosystem. Section 230, according to a Justice Department review, “provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content and for the removal of content in certain circumstances.
The STOP CSAM Act would empower victims to bring civil suits against Big Tech platforms that knowingly host CSAM content. Currently, Section 230 lets Big Tech companies get away with hosting CSAM materials on their platform.
— RAINN Policy (@rainnaction) February 6, 2024
Hawley’s antidote is the STOP CSAM Act, which breaks up Congress’s “sweetheart” deal and makes Big Tech liable for materials appearing on its platforms.
Critics warn that transferring responsibility and culpability from individuals using a platform to the platforms themselves represents a dangerous path that leads to free speech-crushing censorship.
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