Facebook and similar “social media” platforms should be
banned from operating in the U.S. ever again based on the recent and stark testimony
of former employee, Frances Haugen, before Congress covered in part below, and
with a short video (3-minute clip) from ABC News with this headline (formatted
to fit the blog):
“Key takeaways from Facebook
whistleblower Frances Haugen's Senate testimony”
A former Facebook employee turned whistleblower testified
before a Senate Commerce subcommittee on Tuesday – alleging blatant disregard
from Facebook executives when they learned their platform could have harmful
effects on foreign democracies and the mental health of children.
Ms. Haugen said in part: “You can declare moral bankruptcy,
and we can figure out a fix to these things together because we solve problems
together.”
Just minutes after her testimony, Facebook issued a statement attempting to discredit Haugen, stating that she worked for the company “for less than two years, had no direct reports, never attended a decision-point meeting with C-level executives – and testified more than six times to not working on the subject matter in question.”
Although senators from both parties appeared to support her calls to regulate
Facebook, how and when that might happen was unclear.
Here are some key
takeaways:
Lawmaker: “Facebook
facing its 'Big Tobacco moment' in targeting of children.”
One of the matters in question: Haugen described how both platforms: Facebook & Instagram, target children as potential users saying: “Facebook understands that if they want to continue to grow they have to find new users. They have to make sure that the next generation is just as engaged with Instagram as the current one, and the way they'll do that, making sure children establish habits before they have good self-regulation. They know that children bring their parents online – so they understand the value of younger users for the long-term success of Facebook.”
With several comparisons to the tobacco industry, a majority
of Haugen's testimony focused on harmful consequences once she said children
get addicted to Facebook's platforms.
Around 2019, Facebook started using a revamped algorithm called “downstream MSI,” which she said made a post more likely to appear in a user's News Feed if the algorithm calculated people were likely to share or comment on it as it passed down the chain of reshares.
This method has led some
people, including children, to content promoting eating disorders,
misinformation, and hate-targeted posts, according to Haugen and what she said
was in internal company documents she's submitted to the committee after
leaking them to numerous media outlets.
Haugen alleged: “Facebook knows its engagement ranking on
Instagram can lead children from very innocuous topics like healthy recipes
[...] to anorexic content over a very short period of time. Facebook knows they
are leading young users to anorexia content.”
Haugen also claimed that children are a targeted demographic
for Facebook, referencing the company's recent project: “Instagram Kids - but
the company paused the project after it came under public scrutiny.
Haugen speculated: “I would be sincerely surprised if they
do not continue working on Instagram kids. Facebook intends to make sure that
the next generation is just as engaged with Instagram as the current one, and
the way they'll do that, making sure children establish habits before they have
good self-regulation.”
Haugen detailed numerous incidents in which she said
executives at Facebook, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were made directly aware
of their platforms' potentially negative influence on the mental health of
children.
According to Haugen, Zuckerberg and other executives were at one point presented with “Project Daisy” (a strategy that removed the number of likes from public Instagram posts. Studies proved the project was not effective, yet Zuckerberg and others went forward to appease regulators and journalists).
She recalled: “It would get us positive points from the public. That
kind of duplicity is why we need to have more transparency and why, if we want
to have a system that is coherent with democracy, we must have public oversight
from Congress.”
She said that Zuckerberg was apparently also presented with
options to remove the MSI algorithm in the case of Myanmar, a country where
Facebook has been allegedly used to incite violence and spread hate speech
telling the sub-committee: “Mark was presented with these options and chose to
not remove downstream MSI in April of 2020.”
When asked why Facebook wouldn't get rid of downstream MSI
when data showed the system expanded hate speech, misinformation, and
violence-inciting content, Haugen claimed that employee bonuses are still
currently tied to the system.
Lena Pietsch, Facebook’s Director of Policy Communications, released a statement attempting to discredit her knowledge of the company, while calling for new internet regulations saying: “It's time to begin to create standard rules for the internet. It's been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”
Lawmakers on the panel from both parties, operating in a
normally divided Washington, were united in calling for Zuckerberg and other
Facebook officials to testify before Congress as Haugen had.
Zuckerburg has remained silent on Haugen's allegations for
days, and multiple senators noted the billionaire's recent social media posts
of him put sailing with his wife. Lawmakers signaled more hearings and oversight
to come
Haugen, outlining what she said were Facebook's flaws,
offered up several solutions: Facebook could be forced to do things
such as forcing a user to click on a link before sharing it, which platforms
like Twitter have found that significantly reduced misinformation.
Haugen also called for oversight of advertising when it
comes to children – a proposal senators appeared on board with exploring as
they pursue possibly regulating Facebook, saying: “I strongly encourage banning
targeted advertisements to children. And we need to have oversight in terms of
how the algorithms will likely still learn the interests of kids and match ads
to those kids. Facebook today makes approximately $40 billion a year in profit.
A lot of the changes that I'm talking about are not going to make Facebook an
unprofitable company – it just won't be a ludicrously profitable company like
it is today.”
After Haugen raised concerns around Facebook's resourcing of
counter-terrorism and teams intended to counter foreign influence – signaling
she was speaking with another congressional committee on that matter – lawmakers
on the subcommittee opened the door to holding another hearing.
Haugen said about that: “I believe Facebook's consistent
understaffing of the counterespionage, information operations and
counterterrorism teams is a national security issue, and I'm speaking to other
parts of Congress about that.”
Sen. Dan, Sullivan (R-AK) followed up asking: “So, you're
saying in essence that the platform whether Facebook knows it or not, is being
utilized by some of our adversaries in a way that helps push and promote their
interests at the expense of America's?”
Haugen replied: “Yes. Facebook is very aware that this is
happening on the platform, and I believe the fact that Congress doesn't get a
report of exactly how many people are working on these things internally is
unacceptable because you have a right to keep the American people safe.”
My 2 Cents: Members of both
parties across the entire spectrum must heed Ms. Haugen’s words and warnings
and act. It seems the mood is right for massive updating of policy and legal
working policies need to be put in place post haste.
Then the new policy must
also apply to Twitter and other well-known social platforms as needed. A
one-size fits all law and policy seems to be the right solution.
Thanks to Mr. Haugen for
her great testimony, and thank you for stopping by.
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