Belgium: "We must act now"- Facebook whistleblower calls for more regulation in EP testimony

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Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen called on the European Parliament for more regulation concerning the social media platform as well as other products of Meta tech giant, as she testified in a committee hearing in Brussels on Monday.
‘We still have time to act but we must act now’, Haugen urged the European lawmakers, pushing for the potential EU’s Digital Services Act, set to make the virtual space safer for the European users.
She went on to say that the management has all the means to make Facebook and Instagram a safer space, however, doing so would jeopardise the company’s commercial interests.
“They have put their immense profits before people. The consequences are severe,” the former employee warned.
According to Haugen, Facebook’s inappropriate safety regulation, with rapidly spreading misleading information, could undermine the health and well-being of its users worldwide and threaten Western democracy.

SOT, Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower: “The company’s leadership knows ways to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but they won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their immense profits before people. The consequences are severe. The Facebook platform today damages the health and safety of our communities and threatens the integrity of our democracies.”

“Almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside of Facebook. The company’s leadership keeps vital information from the public, the US government, its shareholders and governments around the world. The documents I have provided proof that Facebook has repeatedly misled us about what its own research reveals about the safety of children, its role in spreading hateful and polarising messages, and so much more.”

“The right answer to this emergency is new rules and standards. The EU’s Digital Services Act has a huge potential. It does not try to delete this problem with content regulations, it takes a content-neutral approach to address the systemic risks and harms of the overall business model. And I strongly support this approach.”

“The Digital Services Act that is now before this Parliament has the potential to be a global gold standard. It can inspire other countries, including my own, to pursue new rules that would safeguard our democracies. But the law has to be strong and its enforcement firm. Otherwise, we will lose this once in a generation opportunity to align the future of technology and democracy. “

“Let me be very clear. Every modern disinformation campaign will exploit news media channels on digital platforms by gaming the system. If the DSA makes it illegal for platforms to address these issues, we risk undermining the effectiveness of the law.”

“If there are only two things that everyone takes away from these disclosures should be. First, Facebook chooses profit over safety every day and without bold action from lawmakers, this will continue. The second is that Facebook has exploited its ability to hide the actual behaviour of the platform to allow our safety to come to an unacceptable level. If Facebook is allowed to continue to operate in darkness, we’ll only see escalating tragedies as a result.”

“I came forward at great personal risk because I believe we still have time to act, but we must act now.”

#Facebook #FrancesHaugen #EP #DigitalServicesAct

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