Tipsheet

In Tense Exchange, Hawley Prompts Zuckerberg to Apologize to Social Media Victims

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  January 31, 2024 2:15 PM

In a Senate Judiciary hearing on Wednesday. Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg got involved in a heated argument that resulted in Zuckerberg standing up and apologizing to families negatively impacted by the company’s platforms. 

In the exchange, Hawley pointed out that studies have shown that Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, make life more difficult for teens, specifically, teenage girls. Despite this, Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that “the existing body of scientific work” has not shown a link between social media usage and negative mental health. 

During Hawley’s time for questioning, he pushed back on Zuckerberg’s claim that there’s “no link” between poor mental health and social media.

“Instagram studied the effect of your platform on teenagers….company researchers found that Instagram is harmful for a sizeable percentage of teenagers, most notably, teenage girls,” Hawley said, pointing out that the study said that Instagram worsens women’s body image issues, along with serious mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression.

“Your own study says that you make life worse for one in three teenage girls…you’ve been doing this for years. For years, you’ve been coming in public and testifying under oath that there’s absolutely no link [between social media and mental health]…internally, you know full well that your product is a disaster for teenagers and you keep right on doing what you’re doing,” Hawley said. The room erupted in applause. 

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Then, Hawley began pressing Zuckerberg on how he has compensated the families who’ve been hurt by Meta’s platforms. 

“Don’t you think they deserve some compensation for what your platform has done?” Hawley said. "You didn't take any action. You didn't fire anybody."

"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 by your product? Would you like to apologize for what you've done to these good people?"

Zuckerberg then stood up and turned around to face families in the hearing room and apologized.

“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we’ve invested so much and are going to continue doing industry wide efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer,” Zuckerberg said.

On X, Hawley called the apology “long, long overdue.”