This is Brian Lair's Daily Politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Friday, February 2nd.

I'm Bridget Bergen, senior reporter in the WNYC and Gothamist Newsroom, filling in for Brian today. Happy Groundhog Day to

all who celebrate. Senators called on the CEOs of five major tech platforms to testify before

them on the issue of child safety online this week. Featuring testimony from the bosses of

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Discord, and X, formerly known as Twitter, the scene was what some of us have come to expect from these high-profile hearings.

Senators grilled these tech giants on the lack of transparency when it comes to social media and the harm it could potentially cause kids,

but this time they focused pointedly on child sexual exploitation.

To add to the highly charged atmosphere, survivors of exploitation and family members of victims were in the audience.

Here is Senator Dick Durbin with his opening remarks referencing something called

CSAM, which stands for child sexual abuse material. Discord has been used to groom,

abduct, and abuse children. Meta's Instagram helped connect and promote a network of pedophiles.

Snapchat's disappearing messages have been co-opted by criminals who financially extort young victims.

TikTok has become a quote, platform of choice for predators to access, engage, and groom children for abuse.

And the prevalence of CSAM on X has grown as the company

has gutted its trust and safety workforce. And while some lines of questioning from senators

might have looked like grandstanding, the political reality is sobering. Congress has tried and

failed for years to overturn a 1996 law which gives online service

providers broad immunity from lawsuits over their users' posts.

Joining us now to explain that law and offer analysis of Wednesday's hearing as well as

Will Arremus, technology reporter at the Washington Post. Will, welcome back to WNYC.

Thanks for having me.

And we're going to get into the specifics, but first, I want to reflect a bit on who was sitting before the senators on the dais and how you characterize the hearing overall.

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