Once again, whistleblower Frances Haugen urged US parliamentarians on Wednesday to act quickly to force Facebook to change its practices and control its abuses.
Since it was revealed publicly in early October, the former employee of the social network has testified before parliamentarians from several countries, in the United States but also in the United Kingdom and France, as well as in the European Parliament. This engineer who left Facebook in May has, each time, portrayed her former employer as a group overwhelmed by its own influence but also reluctant to change algorithms and recommendations if it risked reducing traffic to the social network.
Also read: Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who took control
On Wednesday, before the House of Representatives’ subcommittee on technology and communications, Frances Haugen asked elected officials to quickly reform the legal framework for social networks.
“You have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create new rules for our online world,” she explained. “Facebook wants to see you embroiled in too long a debate on the details of the different legislative approaches. Please don’t fall for this trap. Time matters. ”
A reform that divides parliamentarians
Frances Haugen’s hearing came as part of a possible reform of section 230, a law that excludes websites from liability for content published by third parties on these platforms.
Several bills have been tabled to reform these provisions, but while they agree on the need for change, Democrats and Republicans are not aligned on the terms. The former want, overall, to force site operators to better control content while the Republicans want to guarantee freedom of expression and limit the platform’s interventions.
About that: What legacy will Frances Haugen leave?
At the same time, Facebook announced that it had dismantled new malicious networks that were using the debates on anti-Covid-19 vaccines to harass professionals (doctors, journalists and elected officials) or sow division in certain countries, including France and Italy. .
