Facebook whistleblower to say former employer an 'urgent threat' to US

Facebook whistle-blower Frances Haugen will appear before the US Congress Tuesday, where she is set to sharply criticise her former employer as “one of the most urgent threats” facing the country, and to demand transparency about its operations in order to better regulate it.

 

Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, says the social media giant keeps its algorithms and operations a secret.

 

“The core of the issue is that no one can understand Facebook's destructive choices better than Facebook, because only Facebook gets to look under the hood,” she said in written testimony prepared for the hearing. “Almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside. The firm’s leadership keeps vital information from the public, the US government, its shareholders, and governments around the world”

 

Self-regulation in social media not working: White House

 

Social media platforms have made clear that self-regulation is not working, the White House asserted on Monday, saying reports about efforts to attract young users and negative effects on teenagers’ mental health are troubling.