Tech CEOs face fire in D.C. [TDT: 02.05]
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Welcome to this edition of the Three-Dot Tablet [TDT], a weekly news-journal where I seek out the headlines others may not be covering (or not covering well), and - with healthy doses of passion, common sense, and brevity - discuss them with raw, unfiltered commentary.
Let's get to it…
Prime Cut
‘Zuckerberg, what were you thinking?’ Tech CEOs grilled in DC
BBC
You may heard that the big boys (and big girl) of big-tech appeared before the US Senate last week, to answer questions about child safety online.
Yes, there were fireworks…
Five CEOs from major tech companies have testified at a Senate hearing about the protection of children from online sexual exploitation. The five faced some fiery questions, with Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg being asked "what the hell were you thinking?" over an Instagram prompt directing users to possible child abuse material.
There is a lot to unpack here, so let’s bullet-point the proverbial lights, both high and low…
- The CEOs, representing Meta, X, TikTok, Snap, and Discord, answered a broad swath of questions, and while most of those questions were targeting the protection of children online? The senators did go off the rails on a couple of occasions, primarily with TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew over the platform’s alleged ties to China.
- One thing which made these proceedings unique? Several families of those who had been harmed by social media practices were in attendance - and they made their presence felt, both vocally during the proceedings and visually with displaying photos of the harmed loved-ones.
- The biggest item on the table was the Kid’s Online Safety Act (KOSA), which is running through congress at the moment. While X and Snap fully support KOSA, Meta, TikTok and Discord have issues with certain aspects of it, in regards to - curiously, for this bunch - protecting free speech.
- I really REALLY hate to say this, but with the bullet above I agree with the latter three. In my opinion - and from my layman’s understanding - the bill is too broadly written to just defend children. Like the 2001 PATRIOT Act went well beyond its publicly-sold intent, KOSA appears to be designed to do the same. It needs to be tightened up before passage, because while we DO need to truly protect children, we must NOT open another door for government-driven censorship.
- The ‘Zero Self-Awareness’ Quote of the Day…
"You have blood on your hands. You have a product that's killing people."
That was spoken at the tech-heads by none other than the war-mongering senator, Lindsey Graham, whose policies have spilled incalculable vats of life-sustaining crimson. Irony and hypocrisy, all baked into one absurd proclamation.
- Both Senator Josh Hawley and Senator Ted Cruz were absolutely savage, with the former compelling Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to turn around and apologize to the families for the harm that Meta caused their loved-ones. A rare, compelling piece of political drama that was - for a change - actually worth watching.
- X CEO Linda Yaccarino, one of the three who had to be subpoenaed to appear, sounded like a bored, condescending professor speaking to disinterested students. To be fair to her, the senators really didn’t seem all that invested in what she had to say, which makes one wonder why the blazes she was summoned in the first place.
- Senator Tom Cotton is an idiot; his grilling of Shou was embarrassing, on multiple levels. I doubt very seriously the CEO was at all concerned about Cotton’s cringe-worthy attacks, anyhow; he has more pressing TikTok issues than one ignorant senator (more on that in the Seven-Round Mag, below)…
- The ‘Very-Super-Scary’ Quote of the Day
"We could regulate you out of business if we wanted to."
That little gem came from Senator Thom Tillis, and while he was trying to nudge the tech CEOs into a degree of compliance, this open - blatant - declaration of D.C.’s absolute power should terrify even the most quiet of citizen. After all, if they will make this threat to the most wealthy and powerful amongst us, what do you think they would do to commoners like me and you? Chilling.
So what conclusions can we draw? This was merely political theater, and - while compelling, and even entertaining, theater - it was no more than that; truly, a waste of taxpayers money and time. Nothing will come from it, no major changes will be implemented because of it (KOPAs chances were not affected one way of the other), and the only gains achieved was a generous supply of video-bites which can used for various reelection campaigns.
In other words, a typical Thursday on Capital Hill…
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