Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB), reportedly declined a request from Nick Clegg, the company's head of global affairs, to significantly increase the staff dedicated to child protection on Facebook and Instagram.
Internal communications disclosed ahead of a Congressional hearing on the issue showed the former UK Lib Dem leader appealing for the hiring of between 45 to 124 new staff members, aimed at bolstering the platforms' commitments to safety.
This move, however, was turned down by Zuckerberg, citing the plea had been “lost out to the various other pressures and priorities”.
It comes amid mounting scrutiny from US lawmakers over social media platforms' roles in child safety.
During the hearing, tech leaders including Zuckerberg, X boss Linda Yaccarino and TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew were criticised for their lack of action in reducing the harm their platforms caused to children.
“You have a product that’s killing people,” Republican senator Lindsey Graham said.
US lawmakers led the hearing as part of wider plans to implement better safety measures for children regarding blackmail and the sharing of illegal abuse images.
“We need to do more and we are being held back by a lack of investment on the product side, which means we’re not able to make changes and innovations at the pace required to be responsive to policymaker concerns,” Clegg told the Meta CEO in email back in 2021.
He added how efforts to manage well-being on platforms were “understaffed and fragmented across teams” before warning Zuckerberg about the increasing pressure from regulatory and external criticism.
Zuckerberg was grilled by Senators during his eighth time testifying in front of Congress.
When it was revealed Instagram displayed a message telling users that the content could contain child sexual abuse material but gave the option to continue anyway, Ted Cruz, the Republican senator, said: "Mr Zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking?"