Facebook harms children, stokes division -whistleblower
Frances Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, said the social media giant keeps its algorithms and operations a secret. She testified on Tuesday (October 5) before a Senate Commerce subcommittee.
In an era when bipartisanship is rare on Capitol Hill, the top Democrat and Republican on the subcommittee agreed on the need for big changes at Facebook.
Haugen revealed she was the one who provided documents used in a Wall Street Journal investigation and a Senate hearing on Instagram's harm to teenage girls.
The Journal's stories showed the company contributed to increased polarization online when it made changes to its content algorithm; failed to take steps to reduce vaccine hesitancy; and was aware that Instagram harmed the mental health of teenage girls.
