Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg was pushed to publicly apologise to the families of people who said they had been harmed by his social media platform, a dramatic moment in a heated congressional hearing over child safety online. Zuckerberg, whose Meta is the parent of popular platforms Facebook and Instagram, came under particular fire by irate lawmakers during Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate judiciary committee over whether social media companies have done enough to protect younger users from child predators, pornography and other harmful content.

This is the eighth time Zuckerberg has been asked to account for his and his company’s dangerous access rules.

Will this lead to stricter controls on social media? Most likely not – it is not really clear if the senators actually understand the excessive power of Big Tech. It is so vast that meaningful controls are extremely difficult to police or enforce.

They are badly needed but you are asking someone who seems without a moral compass and untouchable to be helpful. It is a lost cause.

Lest we forget Caroline Flack. RIP