Whistleblower Frances Haugen came to the Senate with a message about Facebook and its leaders: Don't trust them
gathered by Haugen, who has also provided information to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The disclosures included the fact that researchers at Instagram, which Facebook owns, knew their app was worsening teenagers' body images and mental health, even as the company publicly downplayed these effects.
And she urged lawmakers to not trust the public assurances that Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives offer about the inner workings of the company's highly guarded algorithms. “We have done nothing when it comes to making the algorithms more transparent,” she continued, adding that the company’s opaqueness has prevented independent research on the social platform. “Why? Because Facebook and the other tech companies are throwing a bunch of money around this town and people are listening to them.”
“Your time of invading privacy, promoting toxic content, and preying on children and teens is over," he said.Subcommittee Chair Richard Blumenthal drew on what he called a "striking" parallel between Facebook and big tobacco companies, saying that the social media company is facing "a moment of reckoning."
Haugen’s claim is unusual because Facebook, one of the world's wealthiest companies, is staffed with tens of thousands of employees. The company has boasted that it has boosted hiring around major events like the 2020 election cycle and the Covid-19 pandemic, which presented the social network with heightened mis- and disinformation and security threats.Changing Section 230 would do the most to rein in the dangers pervasive across Facebook, Haugen said.
When asked what regulations or legal actions by Congress or the administration would have the biggest consequences for Facebook and Instagram, or strike the most fear in the companies, Haugen called for modifying Section 230 to hold companies accountable for their algorithms — rather than holding them liable for users’ posts.
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