Your Product Kills

Your Product Kills

That was the sentiment expressed by Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Lindsey Graham (R-GA) to CEOs of social media companies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the end of January.

The Senators grilled the CEOs of internet companies Discord, X, Snap, TikTok and Meta. Behind the witnesses, CEOs Linda Yaccarino, Jason Citron, Evan Spiegal, Shou Chew and Mark Zuckerberg, were parents of children who committed suicide after using social media that had allegedly affected their mental health.

The companies have been accused of helping sextortion and drug crimes. Teens, especially girls, have been said to be affected negatively by self-harm sites. 

The National Institute of Mental Health has reported that suicides are the greatest cause of death among adolescents.

A study was published by the National Library of Medicine stated, "An independent direct association was found between heavy social media/internet use and increased suicide attempts in seven studies." Under 19-year olds were found to be particularly vulnerable.

These social media companies more or less self-regulate. In a snarky apology to those parents, pushed by Hawley, Zuckerberg said they were working on the problem.

There is no doubt that there is a problem.

However, when claiming those products kill, the two Senators seemed to forget another product kills.

Guns!

The Gun Violence Archive reported that in 2023 40,167 people died from gun violence of which 1,306 were teens and another 176 younger children.

 Senator Graham has voted against gun legislation including;

• Manchin-Toomey Background Check Amendment.
  
• Feinstein Amendment Banning Assault Weapons 
• Lautenberg-Blumenthal Amendment Limiting Magazine Size

But he did vote for the Coryn National Conceal-Carry Reciprocity Legislation.

Hawley has also voted against legislation limiting guns including the recent bipartisan legislation, the first in decades, that recently passed. It tightened a number of loopholes.

Maybe the two Senators don't realize that guns are a product that kill, too, but consistency has never been a politician vice.