Ex-Facebook employee asks lawmakers to step in. Will they?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Camera lights glare. Outrage thunders from elected representatives. A brave industry whistleblower stands alone and takes the oath behind a table ringed by a photographers’ mosh pit.
The former Facebook product manager who has accused the social network giant of threatening children’s safety — and the integrity of democracy — is urging Congress to take action to rein in a largely unregulated company. The drama rings familiar, but will real change come out of it this time?
When Frances Haugen came before a Senate Commerce panel to lay out a far-reaching condemnation of Facebook, she had prescriptions for actions by Congress at the ready. Not a breakup of the tech giant as many lawmakers are calling for, but targeted legislative remedies.
They include new curbs on the long-standing legal protections for speech posted on social media platforms. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called for stripping away some of the protections granted by a 25-year-old law — generally known as “Section 230” — that shields internet companies from liability for what users post.
Haugen’s idea would be to remove the protections in cases where dominant content driven by computer algorithms favors massive engagement by users over public safety.
“Congressional action is needed,” Haugen told the senators in her testimony Tuesday. “(Facebook) won’t solve this crisis without your help.”
Democrats and Republicans have shown a rare unity around the revelations of Facebook’s handling of potential risks to teens from Instagram, and a bipartisan push toward meaningful legislation appears to be stirring.
“We’re going to propose legislation,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who heads the Senate subcommittee, told reporters. “And the days of Facebook evading oversight are...
