Lawmakers Grill Tech Giants on Online Harms

On March 24, British lawmakers recently confronted executives from X, TikTok, and Meta in a heated

parliamentary hearing over online harms.

They slammed the platforms for spreading false info on the Iran conflict, hosting political

deepfakes that risk elections, and failing to block AI, tools used to create new images

of young girls without consent.

Executives described their safety steps, but MPs fired back with fresh examples of failures.

TikTok videos showed instructions for using AI to alter girls' images.

Ex-Pace claims a favoring right-wing post despite neutrality pledges, and no, action was

taken on a fake clip of an MP switching political parties last September.

Frustration boiled over, as one lawmaker shared how new accounts for 13-year-olds on Meta

quickly filled with violent, misogynistic, and extremist material.

Like anger is high too, with tens of thousands weighing in on a consultation about limiting

kids' access through age bans, curfews, or time caps.

Lawmakers proposed banning the misuse of people's identities and fakes to prevent daily

disruptions.

They made it clear the platform's efforts aren't cutting in despite the company's assurances.

In the end, the committee chair demanded real progress within months or face new laws

to finally shield British users from these growing threats.