Hawley Makes Zuckerberg Stand and Apologize to Families: 'Your Product Is Killing People' (January 31, 2024)

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., turned to the grieving families packed behind Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and put the billionaire on the spot. “They’re here. You’re on national television. Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product? Show him the pictures.” Zuckerberg got up, turned around and faced the parents holding photos of their children.

“I’m sorry for everything that you’ve all gone through. It’s terrible,” Zuckerberg told them. The video above shows the moment from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Jan. 31, 2024, hearing on online child sexual exploitation, where the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, X and Discord testified. Quotes are from the official hearing transcript, S. Hrg. 118-497, published by the Government Publishing Office [1].

”Who Did You Fire?”

Hawley started with Zuckerberg’s own opening statement, in which the Meta chief said “the existing body of scientific work has not shown a cause or a link between using social media and young people having worse mental health outcomes” [1].

Hawley read back Meta’s own research, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. “Here’s a quote from your own study. ‘We make body image issues worse for 1-in-3 teen girls,’” he said. “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, your product is wonderful, the science is nascent, full speed ahead, while internally, you know full well your product is a disaster for teenagers” [1].

“Senator, that’s not true,” Zuckerberg said [1].

Hawley then cited figures from a former senior Meta executive turned whistleblower: among girls 13 to 15, “Thirty-seven percent of them reported that they had been exposed to nudity on the platform, unwanted, in the last 7 days. Twenty-four percent said that they had experienced unwanted sexual advances.” His question: “Who did you fire for this? Who got fired because of that?” [1]

He kept asking. “I’m not going to answer that,” Zuckerberg finally said, calling it inappropriate to discuss “H.R. decisions” [1].

“It’s not appropriate? Do you know who’s sitting behind you? You’ve got families from across the Nation whose children are either severely harmed, or gone,” Hawley shot back [1].

”Have You Compensated Any of the Victims?”

“Have you compensated any of the victims?” Hawley asked. “I don’t believe so,” Zuckerberg answered [1].

“Why not? Don’t you think they deserve some compensation for what your platform has done?” Hawley pressed. Zuckerberg said Meta’s job was “to make sure that we build tools to help keep people safe.” “To make money,” Hawley cut in, twice [1].

The Apology

Then came the moment that went viral. “So you didn’t take any action. You… didn’t fire anybody. You haven’t compensated a single victim,” Hawley said. “There’s families of victims here today. Have you apologized to the victims? … Would you like to do so now?” [1]

As the families held up photos, Hawley asked again: “Would you like to apologize for what you’ve done to these good people?” [1]

Zuckerberg stood and addressed the audience. “I’m sorry for everything that you’ve all gone through. It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. And this is why we invest so much, and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the types of things that your families have had to suffer” [1].

Catholic News Agency called it “the viral moment” of the hearing: Zuckerberg, “at the behest of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., stood up and apologized to a crowd of parents in the gallery whose children either died by suicide or were harmed in various ways because of social media” [2].

”Will You Take Personal Responsibility?”

Hawley wasn’t finished. “Why should your company not be sued for this? Why is it that you can claim—you hide behind a liability shield? You can’t be held accountable. Shouldn’t you be held accountable personally? Will you take personal responsibility?” [1]

Zuckerberg said Meta was building “the best tools that we can to keep our community safe.” “Well, you’re failing at that,” Hawley said. “Oh, nonsense. Your product is killing people. Will you personally commit to compensating the victims? You’re a billionaire” [1].

Asked to set up a victims’ compensation fund “with your money,” Zuckerberg called it “complicated.” “Sounds like a no,” Hawley said. “You’ve made billions of dollars on the people sitting behind you here. You’ve done nothing to help them” [1].

”Basically an Espionage Arm”

With his remaining time, Hawley turned to TikTok CEO Shou Chew. “Your platform, why should your platform not be banned in the United States of America?” he asked, pointing to reports that China-based employees had repeatedly accessed nonpublic data of U.S. users. “Your platform is basically an espionage arm for the Chinese Communist Party” [1].

“Senator, I disagree with your characterization,” Chew said, noting that “TikTok is used by 170 million Americans” [1].

”Blood on Your Hands”

Hawley was not alone. Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told the CEOs at the outset: “Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that’s killing people” [1].

Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., laid out the scale of the problem: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received about 1,380 cyber tips a day in 2013, and by 2023 “the number of cyber tips has risen to 100,000 reports a day” [1].

Later, when Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., asked Snap CEO Evan Spiegel what he would say to parents whose children got illegal drugs through his platform, Spiegel said, “I’m so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies” [1]. Tech Policy Press counted Zuckerberg and Chew as the main targets of the nearly four-hour hearing [3].

By the Numbers

1,380 to 100,000: daily cyber tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2013 versus 2023, according to Durbin [1].
37%: girls 13 to 15 who reported unwanted exposure to nudity on Instagram in a week, according to the whistleblower data Hawley cited [1].
1 in 3: teen girls whose body image issues Meta’s own research said Instagram made worse, as Hawley read from the Journal’s report [1].
170 million: U.S. TikTok users, according to Chew [1].
91-3: the Senate vote passing the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act six months later [4].

What Happened Next

The Senate acted. On July 30, 2024, the Senate voted 91-3 to pass the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act. Hawley voted yes; Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., voted no [4]. The bill would require covered platforms to “exercise reasonable care” in designing features to prevent harms to minors, including “sexual exploitation and abuse of minors,” “suicidal behaviors” and “addiction-like behaviors” [5].

TikTok got its deadline. In April 2024, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, aimed at TikTok’s Chinese ownership [6]. On Jan. 17, 2025, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law. “We conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights,” the justices wrote [7].

Meta changed its settings. In September 2024, Meta launched Instagram Teen Accounts, automatically placing teens in built-in protections, with teens under 16 needing a parent’s permission to loosen them [8].

A new federal law. On May 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which makes it a crime to knowingly publish nonconsensual intimate images, including AI forgeries, and requires covered platforms to remove them within 48 hours of a valid request [9].

Hawley has a record of confronting powerful witnesses at this committee, including FBI Director Christopher Wray over a vacation flight on the FBI jet and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over migrant child labor.