Why did Mark Zuckerberg apologise at the US Senate?

Parents of affected children said the Meta CEO’s apology was ‘a bit too late’.

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, alongside the CEOs of TikTok, X and other social media companies went before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to testify at a time when lawmakers and parents are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of digital platforms on young people’s lives.

Here is more to know:

The hearing was about how social media companies have not done enough to curb the damage their platforms do to the health and well-being of children and teenagers.

In a rare show of unity, Republican and Democratic senators together grilled the CEOs, with very few disagreements among them.

At the start of the hearing, parents and teenagers raised concerns about how children were exploited and affected online by the addictive nature of social media, the unregulated presence of sexual predators, and the promotion of unrealistic beauty standards that have given rise to mental health issues such as eating disorders and even suicide cases.