Whistleblower testifies
Facebook hurts users, ex-employee tells Congress
A former Facebook employee turned whistleblower urged Congress on Tuesday to regulate the social media giant because, she contended, its products harm children and democracy.
“The company’s leadership knows ways to make Facebook and Instagram safer and won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people,” said Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist who has provided reams of internal company records to news organizations and regulators.
“Congressional action is needed. (Facebook) cannot solve this crisis without your help. …
Facebook has not earned our blind faith,” Haugen testified during her highly anticipated appearance before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security.
The subcommittee is examining allegations that Facebook’s own research revealed that Instagram — its photo-sharing platform — generated intense peer pressure on young users, particularly girls. As a result, those users suffered from serious mental health problems, with some reporting that Instagram intensified suicidal thoughts and eating disorders. The Wall Street Journal last month first reported on the company’s research, which it obtained from Haugen.
Haugen also contended at the hearing that the company concealed internal research that shows the platform knowingly amplifies political unrest, misinformation and hate.
Facebook executives have disputed how media organizations have characterized the research, and have said the company works hard to ensure their platforms are safe and don’t spread misinformation.
The whistleblower’s testimony came as lawmakers and regulators have begun taking a harder look at how Facebook and other social media companies stoke division and propagate misinformation. Republicans have argued for years that Facebook and other social media companies suppress conservative views. The whistleblower’s appearance on Capitol Hill followed Monday’s massive global outage of Facebook and two of its other platforms, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Tuesday’s hearing was a rare event on Capitol Hill where Democrats and Republicans seemed to agree on the extent of a problem, with both sides praising Haugen for coming forward to expose Facebook’s questionable practices.
Facebook is “facing a Big Tobacco moment; a moment of reckoning,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D -Conn., chairman of the subcommittee, referencing how tobacco companies were called to account for hiding research that proved their products were dangerous.