Haugen to Senators: Focus on Transparency at Facebook
October 05 2021 - 12:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Ryan Tracy
In her opening statement, Frances Haugen picked up on themes in
interviews she has given in the past couple days, but the Facebook
Inc. whistleblower also made the case for a policy change she said
would start to address many of her perceived concerns.
In products such as cars and cigarettes, she said, independent
researchers can evaluate health effects. "The public cannot do the
same with Facebook," she said. "We are given no other option than
to take their marketing message on blind faith."
Ms. Haugen said the lack of transparency also makes it
impossible to effectively regulate Facebook.
"This inability to see in Facebook's actual systems and confirm
that they work as communicated is like the Department of
Transportation regulating cars by only watching them drive down the
highway," she said, as opposed to looking under the hood and
running crash tests.
A requirement for tech companies to open up their platforms for
independent oversight hasn't been a prime target for Congress.
Lawmakers have instead made a series of proposals in recent years
around privacy, competition, Section 230 liability for harmful
content, protections for kids online, and other topics.
Ms. Haugen said privacy protections or changing Section 230
won't on their own be enough to solve the problems she sees.
Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2021 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)
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