Throughout her testimony prior to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tuesday, Democratic senators from Amy Klobuchar to Ed Markey loaded ratings of appreciation upon far-left Facebook “whistleblower” Frances Haugen, extolling her for her courage and desire to come forward.
While multiple subjects concerning Facebook were discussed prior to the Senate on Tuesday– from the company’s dishonest usage of private information to the social networks platform’s harmful results on children– the main subject Haugen pressed in her opening statement was the U.S. government’s role in controling Big Tech to safeguard the future of American Democracy, which often equates into stopping the spread of “false information” and “hate speech.” For example, Haugen, who has enlisted the aid of anti-Trump impeachment legal representatives, formerly blamed Facebook for helping to stoke the flames that led to the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill this year.
Previous Facebook worker and whistleblower Frances Haugen affirms during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Washington
.(Drew Angerer/Pool through AP)Throughout the three-hour hearing, Democrats fasted to hail Haugen as a” hero “for her statement while vowing to aggressively pursue legislation to regulate the Big Tech giant.”You are a 21st-century American hero cautioning our country of the threat for youths, for our Democracy, and our country owes you simply a huge debt of appreciation for the guts you are revealing today,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) stated as he began questioning Haugen.
Markey applauded Haugen for her “courage” after she affirmed that individuals like herself must be the ones in charge of controling Facebook in the future.
“Right now, the only people in the world who are trained to examine these experiments, to comprehend what is happening inside of Facebook, are people who ‘grew up’ within Facebook, or Pinterest, or another social media company,” Haugen stated prior to the committee.
During her round of questioning, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) praised Haugen for her “bravery in coming forward” after linking Facebook had a function in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.
Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen leaves after appearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee during a hearing entitled ‘Protecting Children Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower’ at the Russell Senate Office Building on October 05, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain-Pool/Getty Images)
“On 60 Minutes, you stated that Facebook implemented safeguards to reduce misinformation ahead of the 2020 election, however switched off those safeguards right after the election,” Klobuchar said. “You know that the insurrection occurred on January 6, do you think that Facebook shut off the safeguards due to the fact that they were costing the company cash because it was minimizing profits?”
Haugen verified that Facebook “returned to its original default” after the election to keep the platform viral, suggesting that it sparked the Capitol Hill riot.
Klobuchar even more applauded Haugen on Twitter for going against “among the most powerful business the world has actually ever understood.”
“I won’t stand by while our kids, health, and democracy end up being collateral damage in the revenue video game being played by Facebook,” tweeted Klobuchar. “I thank Frances Haugen for coming forward to take on with among the most effective companies the world has actually ever known. We hear you. And we have your back.”
Frances Haugen: “Facebook changed those safety defaults in the run-up to the election because they understood they were dangerous. And, since they wanted that development back, they wanted the velocity of the platform back after the election, they went back to their initial defaults.” pic.twitter.com/P5GEIFrxOh
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 5, 2021
I won’t wait while our kids, health, and democracy end up being civilian casualties in the earnings game being played by Facebook. I thank Frances Haugen for stepping forward to take on with among the most powerful companies the world has actually ever known. We hear you. And we have your back.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) October 5, 2021
After tweetingpraise of her interview on 60 Minutes, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) regarded Haugen’s testimony before the committee as an example of someone making “a distinction,” predicting that her testimony will lead to a cavalcade of whistleblowers at Facebook stepping forward to produce change:
Your being here sends an extensive message to our nation that one individual can really make a distinction. A single person standing up and speaking up can overcome a great deal of those obstacles for us. And you have actually crystalized, in a way, our awareness here, you have been a driver, I think, for change in a way that we haven’t seen. I have actually been working on these issues for 10, 15 years and you have raised awareness in a way that I think is extremely unique. Thank you not just for your risk-taking and your nerve and strength in standing up, but also for the impact it has actually had.
I also wish to make another point and you can tell me whether I’m appropriate or not: I believe there are other whistleblowers out there. I believe there are other truth-tellers in the tech world. I believe you are leading by example. I believe you are showing them that there is a course to make this market more accountable and more caring about kids and about the nature of our public discourse or about the strength of our democracy. I believe you have actually given them a boost, those whistleblowers out there, and potentially stepping forward.
Haugen simply nodded along and smiled as Blumenthal sang her applauds.
In a declaration following Haugen’s testimony, Facebook Director of Policy Communications Lena Pietsch blasted the previous product manager, defining Haugen as a low-level worker who had no direct relationship with the kinds of issues she raised.
“Today, a Senate Commerce subcommittee held a hearing with the kind product supervisor at Facebook who worked for the company for less than 2 years, had no direct reports, never participated in a decision-point meeting with C-level executives– and testified more than 6 × 2 not working on the subject matter in concern,” began Pietsch.
“We don’t agree with her characterization of the lots of concerns she testified about,” she included.
Pietsch, however, concluded that lawmakers need to “act” rather of “anticipating the industry to make social choices.”
Facebook Statement on today’s Senate Subcommittee Hearing. pic.twitter.com/j6mOpEt9P8
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) October 5, 2021