Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen captured Congress' attention today on Capitol Hill
Here’s are POLITICO’s biggest takeaways from Haugen’s testimony, including new details about the way Facebook operates and her recommendations for how Congress can crack down on the company’s behavior.The hearing was notable for its lack of the partisan sparring that hasin Congress — even as Haugen shot down some of the top proposals lawmakers have offered for regulating the industry.
Instead, she recommended the creation of a federal regulatory agency — an oversight board of sorts, authorized by Congress — that would help analyze tech companies’ research, activities and transparency and craft appropriate regulations. Tech companies have relatively little control over user-generated content, making it more difficult to alter Section 230 on that basis, Haugen said, but “they have 100 percent control over their algorithms, and Facebook should not get a free pass on choices it makes to prioritize growth and virality and reactiveness over public safety.”
Bipartisan legislation dealing with protections for children and teens is “likely the only issue which Congress can immediately rally around,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Digital Democracy.Members of the panel agreed about the need to push ahead with tech regulations and consumer protections — showing a consensus and hunger not seen across the board at any other major tech hearing in recent memory.
But both Republicans and Democrats said the whistleblower’s testimony would be a catalyst for action. One reason Facebook struggles to tackle harmful content and online threats is that it has trouble recruiting and retaining enough employees, Haugen said, suggesting that the size of the company leaves staffers spread thin and makes oversight and action more challenging.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'A Betrayal of Democracy': What We Learned From the Facebook Whistleblower InterviewThe social network repeatedly chose “profits over public safety,” said former employee Frances Haugen
Read more »
Facebook Leads Nasdaq Lower As Whistleblower To Appear Before Congress; Markets Tank On Economic JittersFacebook led a rout of tech stocks and broader market indexes Monday amid outages at its core services and news that the whistleblower behind a recent series of damning stories in the Wall Street J…
Read more »
Analysis: What we learned from the Facebook whistleblower -- and how Facebook responded'It does not take a whistleblower to know that Facebook's vast platform is used to spread hate and misinformation. But now we do have a whistleblower' | Analysis by zbyronwolf
Read more »
Facebook knows you’re addicted, and they plan to keep it that wayFacebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified during a hearing before Congress about the site's harmful practices and efforts to manipulate its users.
Read more »
Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen Compares FB To Tobacco, OpioidsFacebook whistleblower Frances Haugen compares FB to the tobacco and opioid crisis.
Read more »
Facebook whistleblower to tell Congress social network is 'accountable to no one'“As long as Facebook is operating in the dark, it is accountable to no one,” Frances Haugen will say, according to prepared remarks.
Read more »