A coalition of parents whose children died or experienced mental health difficulties linked to tech platforms is urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to testify before the panel.
In a letter sent Friday to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), advocacy groups Parents RISE and ParentsTogether Action argued that only the companies’ top executives can be held accountable for decisions they say contributed to children’s harm.
“Every time Mark Zuckerberg testifies in public, more parents understand what happened or what is happening with their own child,” the groups wrote. “Parents like us are done being told to wait.”
The appeal comes after the White House intervened in a bid to spare some of the CEOs from testifying, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss private negotiations. Grassley agreed to allow lower-level executives from the tech companies to appear before the panel, and in turn, the administration is supporting a package of child online safety bills known as the James T. Woods Act, the people added.
“Chairman Grassley remains committed to advancing lifesaving child safety legislation and holding Big Tech accountable,” a Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson said in a statement.
“The top CEOs of each of these tech companies should be called to testify, just as they were when then-Chair Durbin held a similar hearing in 2024,” a Durbin spokesperson told POLITICO. “Senator Durbin supports subpoenas for these tech CEOs.”
Meta declined to comment, and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
“As long as the men who made the decisions that killed our children are allowed to hide behind their lower-ranking employees,” the parents’ groups wrote, “there will be no real accountability — and we will see no real justice.”
The two groups will also lead a phone call drive today, demanding Grassley subpoena Zuckerberg and Pichai, according to Shelby Knox, ParentsTogether’s online safety campaign director.
Last week, the parents of James Woods — a 17-year-old Instagram user who died by suicide after being sexually extorted on the platform and after whom the package is named — condemned the White House intervention.
Grassley and Durbin have been working to advance the James T. Woods Act, seeking to attach it to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
Read the full article here