Facebook’s behavior has been concerning.
During a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday, a Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, called for transparency about how Facebook entices users to extend their stay on the site, giving them ample opportunity to advertise to them.
“As long as Facebook is operating in the shadows, hiding its research from public scrutiny, it is unaccountable,” she said. She is a former product manager of the nearly $1 trillion company. In particular, she discussed with the subcommittee the social media company’s harm to children and how it also stokes division. She said she became disillusioned with the tech company’s motives and felt she had to do something about the ways it was often knowingly harming users.
During and following the hearing, a bipartisan group of senators called for Facebook to be subpoenaed and forced to turn over internal company research and data regarding the revelations made by the whistleblower. Senators including Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Ted Cruz of Texas said that they favored issuing subpoenas to Facebook to get the full extent of information.
Senator Markey told reporters, “One hundred percent, we should get every bit of information from Facebook. It should be a bipartisan subpoena from this committee that ensures that all the documentation is out for the public to see.”
Senators of both parties expressed support during the hearing for holding Facebook accountable for problematic behavior through further hearings, investigations, and legislation.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of Congress as they evaluate the possibility of regulating online platforms and passing standard rules for the internet.
- For the president’s administration as they work with Congress on internet policies.
- For officials in the FCC as they assess the monopolies that some tech companies seem to hold, and the activities they conduct “in the shadows.”
Sources: Reuters, Washington Examiner, The Hill
