Watch: Meta's Zuckerberg faces accusation of having 'blood on his hands', apologises to families

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, while testifying in an ongoing hearing on online child safety before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, apologised to the families who claimed that their children have suffered harm from social media platforms.

After receiving a little push from Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Meta CEO Zuckerberg stood up and addressed the families who were holding pictures of their children who they claimed to have suffered because of social media.

"Would you like now to apologise to the victims who have been harmed by your product?" Hawley asked Zuckerberg, further pointing out the hearing was being broadcast on live television.

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Zuckerberg, who heads Instagram and Facebook, turned towards the families and said, "I'm sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer."

During a contentious exchange, while aggressively criticising Zuckerberg, Hawley said, "Your product is killing people."

Tech giants face tough questions on child safety

Zuckerberg and the heads of TikTok, Snap, X and Discord were questioned for nearly four hours by senators from the two parties.

The lawmakers also asked the leaders of the tech giants to share what steps they are taking to protect children online.

Zuckerberg along with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew voluntarily agreed to testify, however, heads of Snap, X (formerly Twitter) and Discord earlier refused and were provided government-issued subpoenas.

The families, who claimed that their children had killed or self-harmed themselves, sat behind thetech bosses

The families expressed their feelings and criticised the CEOs for their negligence, while at the same time appreciating the lawmakers when they asked tough questions.

Although the hearing mostly focused on protecting children from online sexual exploitation, the questions widely differed as the senators tried to get answers from five powerful executives who were under oath.

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TikTok's Chew, when questioned if his company shared the data of US users with the Chinese government, denied it.

He said, "As a father of three young children myself I know the issues that we're discussing today are horrific and the nightmare of every parent" and accepted that his own children do not use TikTok due to the rules imposed in Singapore.

However, Zuckerberg, came under the most scrutiny as the Meta CEO as he testified for an eighth time before Congress.

"Mr.Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don't mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that's killing people," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

At one point, Republican Senator Ted Cruz said, "Mr Zuckerberg, what the hell were you thinking?" as he showed the tech boss an Instagram prompt which warned users that they are likely to see child sexual abuse material, but questioned if they would like to "see the results anyway".

Zuckerberg, speaking about the prompt, said the "basic science behind that" is "it's often helpful to, rather than just blocking it, to help direct them towards something that could be helpful". He further promised to "personally look into it".

(With inputs from agencies)