Paging Zuckerberg

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Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is asking Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify at a hearing about the company’s policies regarding kids’ safety online following the release of internal documents by a company whistleblower.

Blumenthal, chair of the Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee, asked the tech CEO Wednesday to appear before the panel himself or send Instagram head Adam Mosseri. Blumenthal underscored his request by doubling down on accusations that the company has been withholding information about the impact of its products on young users in a way that has misled Congress and the public.

“Parents across America are deeply disturbed by ongoing reports that Facebook knows that Instagram can cause destructive and lasting harms to many teens and children, especially to their mental health and wellbeing. Those parents, and the twenty million teens that use your app, have a right to know the truth about the safety of Instagram,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter.

A spokesperson for Facebook confirmed the company had received the letter, but did not comment further.

Read more about the request here.

He’s not alone: Executives from YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat will be in the hot seat next week at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing about the influence of social media on children, lawmakers announced Tuesday.

“Recent revelations about harm to kids online show that Big Tech is facing its Big Tobacco moment—a moment of reckoning,” subcommittee chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in a statement. “We need to understand the impact of popular platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube on children and what companies can do better to keep them safe.”