The CEOs of Meta, Alphabet, TikTok, and Snap have been invited back to Capitol Hill to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers about children's online safety, according to a Senate aide.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley invited Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, TikTok's Shou Zi Chew, and Snap's Evan Spiegel.
The companies face mounting criticism over child and teen safety. If the CEOs accept the invitation, it would allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to press them publicly.
Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal are working to back legislation requiring the companies to take more responsibility for how their apps affect children and teens.
Congress has yet to pass comprehensive social media regulation, prompting at least 20 states to enact their own laws last year.
Snap, Meta, Alphabet's Google, and TikTok are separately facing thousands of lawsuits in California, accusing them of designing addictive platforms that harm children's mental health. Meta and Google lost the first jury trial in March, resulting in a $6 million verdict. A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties over child exploitation claims.
Spiegel, Zuckerberg, and Chew last testified before Congress in 2024. For Chew, this would be his first time testifying since ByteDance finalized a deal to split the U.S. app from its global business, avoiding a U.S. ban.