On Tuesday, Facebook Whistleblower and a former product manager of civic misinformation at Facebook, Frances Haugen testified in front of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection and has urged Congress to take action and solve the “crisis” that has been created due to her former employer’s renowned product.
Haugen believes that Facebook’s algorithm can mislead young users and can cause serious problems for the young generation in times to come. However, instead of directly accusing the top-level executives, she thinks that the CEO – Mark Zuckerberg must take responsibility for the impact that his product is creating on the world.
In her testimony, Haugen revealed many dark secrets of what happens at the firm that no one knows, “The company’s leadership keeps vital information from the public, the U.S. government, its shareholders, and governments around the world.”
Moreover, according to her, when the firm dissolved its civic integrity team after the 2020 elections, she felt the need to bring forward all the dirty work that happens at Facebook.
While she has appealed to the Senate to take action, she has also alerted the council that, “Tweaks to outdated privacy protections or changes to Section 230 will not be sufficient,” which protects the social platforms from the liability of the user’s posts.
The chairman of the subcommittee, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, has summoned the CEO and Founder of Facebook, Mark Zukerberg for an explanation.
More information regarding the matter will come up as time unfolds, but for now, this matter is what the chairman of the Commerce Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., calls, “part of the process of demystifying Big Tech.”
