The Europe’s Margrethe Vestager, one of the world’s most powerful and proactive regulators, has made Europe a first mover in checking big tech for the public good and in the interest of competition.
The head of the EU’s Competition Commission has developed key digital privacy laws, rules on hate speech and most recently a framework for AI (one area where she’s heartened by a global push to face its existential risk). Last week, her Committee fined Apple an unexpectedly high $2 billion for stifling competition for streaming music on its app store.
“We’ve had Apple cases, Facebook cases, Amazon cases. It all started before me with the Microsoft cases, and we have open Microsoft cases now,” she said Sunday during a Q&a at SXSW where she is receiving an award. “What is fundamental in an economy like ours is, can you make it to the marketplace?...
The head of the EU’s Competition Commission has developed key digital privacy laws, rules on hate speech and most recently a framework for AI (one area where she’s heartened by a global push to face its existential risk). Last week, her Committee fined Apple an unexpectedly high $2 billion for stifling competition for streaming music on its app store.
“We’ve had Apple cases, Facebook cases, Amazon cases. It all started before me with the Microsoft cases, and we have open Microsoft cases now,” she said Sunday during a Q&a at SXSW where she is receiving an award. “What is fundamental in an economy like ours is, can you make it to the marketplace?...
- 3/10/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Meta has announced several new features for Facebook Reels, the non-Instagram version of its short-form video format. As Reels get more visibility within the Facebook Watch hub, Meta is trying to make them more personalized by incorporating input from viewers.
In a blog post, Meta announced that it will include Reels on the main Facebook Watch navigation bar. As a result, Facebook users will be able to access a TikTok-like stream of short-form videos. Similar layouts have been tested and rolled out on platforms like Twitter and Reddit.
Reels are becoming more discoverable on Watch amidst a transitionary period for the on-demand content hub. The recent departure of Head of Development and Programming Mina Lefevre will bring about the end of Facebook Watch’s original programming push (at least in its current form). Rather than spending on scripted and unscripted Watch shows, Meta is prioritizing the development of VR content and short-form videos.
In a blog post, Meta announced that it will include Reels on the main Facebook Watch navigation bar. As a result, Facebook users will be able to access a TikTok-like stream of short-form videos. Similar layouts have been tested and rolled out on platforms like Twitter and Reddit.
Reels are becoming more discoverable on Watch amidst a transitionary period for the on-demand content hub. The recent departure of Head of Development and Programming Mina Lefevre will bring about the end of Facebook Watch’s original programming push (at least in its current form). Rather than spending on scripted and unscripted Watch shows, Meta is prioritizing the development of VR content and short-form videos.
- 5/3/2023
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
It’s Oscar nominations week, and a jovial Bill Maher zinged out a few Hollywood jabs to start the second Real Time of the spring. But later in the show, a cranky Maher revealed a dirty little secret about travel that he and other celebrities do all the time
“I can’t wait to see who slaps who,” said Maher about the Oscars revelations this week, noting the nominations leader is Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a title which he likened to “what you see when you shine a Uv light on a hotel bedspread.”
Avatar: The Way of Water was a sore spot with Maher, who noted he’s against its “Oscars so blue” nomination.
That out of the way, Maher turned to Ukraine and the decision this week to send them tanks. “Biden said they’re the most lethal weapon in our arsenal – if you don’t count the gas stove.
“I can’t wait to see who slaps who,” said Maher about the Oscars revelations this week, noting the nominations leader is Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a title which he likened to “what you see when you shine a Uv light on a hotel bedspread.”
Avatar: The Way of Water was a sore spot with Maher, who noted he’s against its “Oscars so blue” nomination.
That out of the way, Maher turned to Ukraine and the decision this week to send them tanks. “Biden said they’re the most lethal weapon in our arsenal – if you don’t count the gas stove.
- 1/28/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Mark Zuckerberg is championing Instagram as a “positive” social media platform for users to enjoy.
The Meta CEO spoke in a lengthy interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” about his views on censorship, virtual reality, and government oversight.
Zuckerberg’s company Meta, previously FaceBook, bought Instagram in 2012 for 1 billion and has been attempting to expand its hold on social media. Reflecting on the platform, the 38-year-old said he finds it to be a great place to spend time.
Read More: Mark Zuckerberg Is A Creepy ‘Zuck On A Truck’ In Jimmy Kimmel’s Dark ‘Elf On The Shelf’ Parody
“I think Instagram is a super positive space,” Zuckerberg said. “I think some of the critiques we get there is that it’s very curated and potentially, in some ways, overly positive…It’s easy to spend time there, and kind of absorb a lot of the positivity.”
This statement comes...
The Meta CEO spoke in a lengthy interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” about his views on censorship, virtual reality, and government oversight.
Zuckerberg’s company Meta, previously FaceBook, bought Instagram in 2012 for 1 billion and has been attempting to expand its hold on social media. Reflecting on the platform, the 38-year-old said he finds it to be a great place to spend time.
Read More: Mark Zuckerberg Is A Creepy ‘Zuck On A Truck’ In Jimmy Kimmel’s Dark ‘Elf On The Shelf’ Parody
“I think Instagram is a super positive space,” Zuckerberg said. “I think some of the critiques we get there is that it’s very curated and potentially, in some ways, overly positive…It’s easy to spend time there, and kind of absorb a lot of the positivity.”
This statement comes...
- 8/26/2022
- by Anita Tai
- ET Canada
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent nearly three hours on The Joe Rogan Experience yesterday, mostly answering questions about virtual reality, content moderation, censorship and government oversight. Much of the media coverage has centered on communications between the FBI and Meta about the Hunter Biden laptop story.
But in another part of the conversation, Zuckerberg offered a sunny take on his company’s Instagram platform, which has come under increased criticism in the past year since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen went public with her concerns about the impact that the company’s products are having on Americans.
“I think Instagram is a super positive space,” Zuckerberg told Rogan. “I think some of the critiques we get there is that it’s very curated and potentially, in some ways, overly positive…It’s easy to spend time there, and kind of absorb a lot of the positivity.”
That assessment stands directly opposite...
But in another part of the conversation, Zuckerberg offered a sunny take on his company’s Instagram platform, which has come under increased criticism in the past year since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen went public with her concerns about the impact that the company’s products are having on Americans.
“I think Instagram is a super positive space,” Zuckerberg told Rogan. “I think some of the critiques we get there is that it’s very curated and potentially, in some ways, overly positive…It’s easy to spend time there, and kind of absorb a lot of the positivity.”
That assessment stands directly opposite...
- 8/26/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Meta, TikTok and Snap were hit with three new lawsuits accusing them of fueling mental health disorders in teenage users. The plaintiffs are among a wave of parents and their children that are taking social media platforms to court arguing that the companies not only hook users but do so knowing the harms they pose.
The lawsuits — the latest in a string of cases linking social media to mental health problems in minors — assert product liability claims to get around Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law shielding tech companies from liability arising from content of third parties. They advance a theory arguing that platforms like Facebook are essentially defective products that lead to injuries, including eating disorders, anxiety and suicide. At least 20 such lawsuits have been filed across the country citing the Facebook Papers, a trove of internal company documents...
Meta, TikTok and Snap were hit with three new lawsuits accusing them of fueling mental health disorders in teenage users. The plaintiffs are among a wave of parents and their children that are taking social media platforms to court arguing that the companies not only hook users but do so knowing the harms they pose.
The lawsuits — the latest in a string of cases linking social media to mental health problems in minors — assert product liability claims to get around Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law shielding tech companies from liability arising from content of third parties. They advance a theory arguing that platforms like Facebook are essentially defective products that lead to injuries, including eating disorders, anxiety and suicide. At least 20 such lawsuits have been filed across the country citing the Facebook Papers, a trove of internal company documents...
- 8/18/2022
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
San Francisco, June 21 (Ians) Frances Haugen, a whistleblower who exposed Facebook and testified in front of lawmakers about the social network’s illegal data activities, is raising up to 5 million to kick off a nonprofit organisation that will train lawyers to fight Big Tech. According to a report in Politico, Haugen wants to start […]...
- 6/21/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms underscored its commitment to the Metaverse, announcing that its old familiar stock symbol Fb – for Facebook, the company’s old name – will change to Meta on June 9. Shares of the company that also owns Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp said the new Nasdaq ticker “aligns with the company’s rebranding.”
Facebook announced the corporate name change last October, unveiling plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on what Zuckerberg called “the next chapter of social connection” but Wall Street worries may be a sinkhole.
“From now on, we’re going to be the metaverse first. Not Facebook first,” the founder said during a keynote at a company event. The pivot astonished the industry, flummoxed investors, confused employees and was no boon to Facebook’s share price. It came amid a stream of negative press last fall with story after story impugning the company’s business practices including privacy breaches,...
Facebook announced the corporate name change last October, unveiling plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on what Zuckerberg called “the next chapter of social connection” but Wall Street worries may be a sinkhole.
“From now on, we’re going to be the metaverse first. Not Facebook first,” the founder said during a keynote at a company event. The pivot astonished the industry, flummoxed investors, confused employees and was no boon to Facebook’s share price. It came amid a stream of negative press last fall with story after story impugning the company’s business practices including privacy breaches,...
- 5/31/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The UK’s influential Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Dcmsc) has called Elon Musk to a hearing to discuss how he “will balance his clear commitment to free speech with new obligations to protect Twitter’s users from online harms.”
Musk has no obligation to attend but a letter sent out today to Tesla’s Palo Alto headquarters asked that he “discuss proposals in more depth” in front of the committee, which is made up of cross-party representatives and regularly grills bosses from the major broadcasters and production houses.
The letter from Dcmsc chair Julian Knight said the committee is particularly interested in Musk’s proposal to roll out verification for all users, which Knight said echoes calls to the UK government “that we hope will restore the UK public’s trust in digital platforms.”
The world’s richest man is pushing on with a proposed 44Bn acquisition of...
Musk has no obligation to attend but a letter sent out today to Tesla’s Palo Alto headquarters asked that he “discuss proposals in more depth” in front of the committee, which is made up of cross-party representatives and regularly grills bosses from the major broadcasters and production houses.
The letter from Dcmsc chair Julian Knight said the committee is particularly interested in Musk’s proposal to roll out verification for all users, which Knight said echoes calls to the UK government “that we hope will restore the UK public’s trust in digital platforms.”
The world’s richest man is pushing on with a proposed 44Bn acquisition of...
- 5/4/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The wrong man has the ear of Mark Zuckerberg, according to tireless Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
The former company executive who previously leaked thousands of internal Facebook papers and testified before the US Senate and British parliament last year, told The Times that Zuckerberg and his senior team continued to “pursue growth at all costs” and found any detractors’ claims that Facebook could breed hatred and enmity hard to swallow.
Haugen called Zuckerberg “a boy prince” whose entire identity was bound up with his era-defining creation. Haugen said, “Can you imagine finding out your entire life’s work — it causes genocides? It’s an impossible thought.”
And she was particularly contemptuous of Zuckerberg’s newly promoted acolyte Sir Nick Clegg, formerly the UK’s deputy Prime Minister and now president of global affairs at Facebook’s parent company Meta. Haugen claimed that Clegg was used to being unpopular in his...
The former company executive who previously leaked thousands of internal Facebook papers and testified before the US Senate and British parliament last year, told The Times that Zuckerberg and his senior team continued to “pursue growth at all costs” and found any detractors’ claims that Facebook could breed hatred and enmity hard to swallow.
Haugen called Zuckerberg “a boy prince” whose entire identity was bound up with his era-defining creation. Haugen said, “Can you imagine finding out your entire life’s work — it causes genocides? It’s an impossible thought.”
And she was particularly contemptuous of Zuckerberg’s newly promoted acolyte Sir Nick Clegg, formerly the UK’s deputy Prime Minister and now president of global affairs at Facebook’s parent company Meta. Haugen claimed that Clegg was used to being unpopular in his...
- 3/27/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Update, 7:50 Pm Pt: At one point during Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, and he started to talk about the deaths of service members due to environmental exposure, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-co) interrupted him, shouting, “Yeah, 13 of them!”
She was booed — by members of both parties.
The headline of the State of the Union speech was the hard line that Biden took toward Vladimir Putin and the ovation that greeted the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, who was seated next to First Lady Jill Biden. But the goal was to find moments of unity, where members of both parties would be compelled to stand up in applause.
It largely worked, as some of the standout moments were those that drew a show of support from members on both sides of the aisle, including Biden’s reference to funding the police, as well as one of his chief legislative accomplishments,...
She was booed — by members of both parties.
The headline of the State of the Union speech was the hard line that Biden took toward Vladimir Putin and the ovation that greeted the Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, who was seated next to First Lady Jill Biden. But the goal was to find moments of unity, where members of both parties would be compelled to stand up in applause.
It largely worked, as some of the standout moments were those that drew a show of support from members on both sides of the aisle, including Biden’s reference to funding the police, as well as one of his chief legislative accomplishments,...
- 3/2/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
San Francisco, Feb 21 (Ians) The nonprofit organisation that represents Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has filed two new complaints against Meta (formerly Facebook), accusing the social network of misleading investors about its efforts to tackle misinformation about climate change and Covid-19. The two complaints have been filed in the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) […]...
- 2/21/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
South by Southwest Conference and Festivals has set additional Keynotes and Featured Speakers names for the 36th annual festival, which celebrates the intersections of the technology, film, and music industries.
“The 2022 Conference program is coming together in a spectacular fashion. We could not be more thrilled to announce a Keynote lineup that includes Lizzo, Beck, Neal Stephenson, and Celine Tricart,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “These acclaimed creatives, along with the Featured Speakers revealed today, exemplify why SXSW is an essential destination for global professionals.”
The SXSW Conference, is organized into 15 programming tracks presented in a variety of session formats. New for 2022 is the addition of Summits, which take a deep dive into specific topics relevant to the SXSW audience.
SXSW runs March 11-20 in Austin.
The list of keynotes and featured speakers includes Grammy-winning artist Lizzo, also star and executive producer of Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,...
“The 2022 Conference program is coming together in a spectacular fashion. We could not be more thrilled to announce a Keynote lineup that includes Lizzo, Beck, Neal Stephenson, and Celine Tricart,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “These acclaimed creatives, along with the Featured Speakers revealed today, exemplify why SXSW is an essential destination for global professionals.”
The SXSW Conference, is organized into 15 programming tracks presented in a variety of session formats. New for 2022 is the addition of Summits, which take a deep dive into specific topics relevant to the SXSW audience.
SXSW runs March 11-20 in Austin.
The list of keynotes and featured speakers includes Grammy-winning artist Lizzo, also star and executive producer of Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,...
- 2/15/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO has closed a deal for Doomsday Machine, a limited series about Facebook starring Emmy winner Claire Foy as embattled tech giant COO Sheryl Sandberg and executive producing as well. Anonymous Content and wiip (Mare of Easttown, Dickinson), which took the project to the marketplace in October, will co-produce with HBO.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, Doomsday Machine is based on Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s bestselling book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination as well as their New York Times reporting and the reporting of the New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz. Doomsday Machine chronicles the political and social minefields Facebook has navigated on its relentless quest for growth. The series places us in the shoes of Sandberg (Foy) and Mark Zuckerberg, who are shaping the way that billions of people around the world communicate and consume information.
The series is...
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar, Doomsday Machine is based on Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s bestselling book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination as well as their New York Times reporting and the reporting of the New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz. Doomsday Machine chronicles the political and social minefields Facebook has navigated on its relentless quest for growth. The series places us in the shoes of Sandberg (Foy) and Mark Zuckerberg, who are shaping the way that billions of people around the world communicate and consume information.
The series is...
- 2/8/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
San Francisco, Feb 3 (Ians) Meta deliberately provides less help, reporting of online abuse, and safety on its Facebook platform to save on costs for people living outside of the US, says Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Speaking to Australia’s Select Committee on Social Media and Online Safety on Thursday morning, Haugen testified that Facebook takes […]...
- 2/3/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Exclusive: Frances Haugen, who last year revealed herself as the Facebook whistleblower and testified before the Senate Commerce Committee, has signed with CAA.
The agency closed Haugen’s deal with Little, Brown and Co. for North American rights to publish her book. Deals also are in place for four foreign territories. CAA also is working with Haugen in other areas, including personal appearances and nonfiction film and television content.
Haugen has urged greater government oversight of social media giants. She was lead product manager of Facebook’s civic integrity team, which oversaw issues related to disinformation, and she later was on the platform’s counter-espionage team. The Wall Street Journal published an investigative series based on documents supplied by Haugen.
Among other things, the series showed that Facebook had research on the addictive nature of its platform and the impact that Instagram had on teen girls and negative body images.
The agency closed Haugen’s deal with Little, Brown and Co. for North American rights to publish her book. Deals also are in place for four foreign territories. CAA also is working with Haugen in other areas, including personal appearances and nonfiction film and television content.
Haugen has urged greater government oversight of social media giants. She was lead product manager of Facebook’s civic integrity team, which oversaw issues related to disinformation, and she later was on the platform’s counter-espionage team. The Wall Street Journal published an investigative series based on documents supplied by Haugen.
Among other things, the series showed that Facebook had research on the addictive nature of its platform and the impact that Instagram had on teen girls and negative body images.
- 2/1/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
The House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol has issued subpoenas to four major tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Reddit and Twitter, for documents related to the spread of election disinformation on social media and the use of platforms by violent extremists.
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee, said they were examining whether the “spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, and what steps—if any—social media companies took to prevent their platforms from being breeding grounds for radicalizing people to violence.”
But he said that the four companies have not been forthcoming in fully responding to committee requests.
“It’s disappointing that after months of engagement, we still do not have the documents and information necessary to answer those basic questions,” he said.
At least part of the committee’s inquiry was inspired by the recent testimony of Frances Haugen,...
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the committee, said they were examining whether the “spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, and what steps—if any—social media companies took to prevent their platforms from being breeding grounds for radicalizing people to violence.”
But he said that the four companies have not been forthcoming in fully responding to committee requests.
“It’s disappointing that after months of engagement, we still do not have the documents and information necessary to answer those basic questions,” he said.
At least part of the committee’s inquiry was inspired by the recent testimony of Frances Haugen,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri received a broadside of complaints before a Senate committee on Wednesday over what lawmakers see as the company’s lack of action to protect teens using its platform.
The Meta-owned site, along with other popular platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, have been at the center of lawmakers’ hearings in recent months as Congress considers legislation in areas such as consumer privacy, algorithm transparency and Section 230 reform. The latter has to do with the broad liability protection that tech companies have had for third party content posted on their site.
While Mosseri released advanced testimony that included calls to an industry body to determine best practices “for how to verify age, design age-appropriate experiences and how to build parental controls,”
“I believe the time for self policing and self regulation is over,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (C-Ct), who was chairing the hearing before a Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection,...
The Meta-owned site, along with other popular platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, have been at the center of lawmakers’ hearings in recent months as Congress considers legislation in areas such as consumer privacy, algorithm transparency and Section 230 reform. The latter has to do with the broad liability protection that tech companies have had for third party content posted on their site.
While Mosseri released advanced testimony that included calls to an industry body to determine best practices “for how to verify age, design age-appropriate experiences and how to build parental controls,”
“I believe the time for self policing and self regulation is over,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (C-Ct), who was chairing the hearing before a Senate Commerce subcommittee on consumer protection,...
- 12/8/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
San Francisco, Dec 7 (Ians) After whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked internal company research suggesting Instagram’s negative effect on teenagers, the Meta-owned photo-sharing platform on Tuesday launched a ‘Take a Break’ and other safety features for teenagers. The company has currently launched the feature in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to empower […]...
- 12/7/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Republicans and Democrats talked over each other at the latest Congressional hearing over whether and how to yank legal immunity from social media tech giants, all of them mad but unlikely to agree on specific legislation.
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) weighed in on “Holding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech’s Legal Immunity” with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen back on the stand joined by witnesses including Kara Frederick, Research Fellow in Technology Policy The Heritage Foundation — who had also worked at Facebook, now called Meta. Haugen focused on the company’s divisive algorithms, Frederick on “the litany of suspensions of ordinary Americans by Big Tech platforms for expressing right-leaning political views.”
That was echoed in committee as Republicans lamented censorship of conservative voices and Democrats misinformation and civil rights abuses, extremism and polarization, vulnerable kids and inciting violence with reps...
The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) weighed in on “Holding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech’s Legal Immunity” with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen back on the stand joined by witnesses including Kara Frederick, Research Fellow in Technology Policy The Heritage Foundation — who had also worked at Facebook, now called Meta. Haugen focused on the company’s divisive algorithms, Frederick on “the litany of suspensions of ordinary Americans by Big Tech platforms for expressing right-leaning political views.”
That was echoed in committee as Republicans lamented censorship of conservative voices and Democrats misinformation and civil rights abuses, extremism and polarization, vulnerable kids and inciting violence with reps...
- 12/1/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
While most brands are seeing to maximize their social media strategies, Lush has just unveiled a global “anti-social media policy," which will see the cosmetics brand shuttering all of its Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts beginning on Friday.
Lush says the policy applies to all brand, retail, and people accounts in the 48 countries where it operates.
Lush says it previously tried to quit social media in 2019, with its U.K. division closing its Instagram and Facebook accounts, though it returned in a limited away amid the pandemic.
The most recent decision was solidified after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has attested to the ways in which the social giant's algorithm has harmed users for the sake of profit. Lush also said in a press release that its bath products are intended to help users switch off and relax, while social media platforms are designed with an always-on mentality, to keep users scrolling endlessly.
Lush says the policy applies to all brand, retail, and people accounts in the 48 countries where it operates.
Lush says it previously tried to quit social media in 2019, with its U.K. division closing its Instagram and Facebook accounts, though it returned in a limited away amid the pandemic.
The most recent decision was solidified after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen has attested to the ways in which the social giant's algorithm has harmed users for the sake of profit. Lush also said in a press release that its bath products are intended to help users switch off and relax, while social media platforms are designed with an always-on mentality, to keep users scrolling endlessly.
- 11/24/2021
- by Geoff Weiss
- Tubefilter.com
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that the company is changing its corporate name to Meta, a move that was hinted at in recent weeks and follows the company’s plans to invest billions of dollars in the next iteration of computing that the social media giant’s CEO has dubbed the Metaverse.
The move also comes as the company is besieged by negative press as article after article impugns its integrity and business practices, often describing a single-minded pursuit of profit at the expense of the public good. Zuckerberg accused the media of “a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture” — starting with a trove of leaked documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen that the Wall Street Journal used for an initial series of critical pieces.
Zuckerberg made the big name change announcement today at Connect, the company’s annual hardware event.
“From now on,...
The move also comes as the company is besieged by negative press as article after article impugns its integrity and business practices, often describing a single-minded pursuit of profit at the expense of the public good. Zuckerberg accused the media of “a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture” — starting with a trove of leaked documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen that the Wall Street Journal used for an initial series of critical pieces.
Zuckerberg made the big name change announcement today at Connect, the company’s annual hardware event.
“From now on,...
- 10/28/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Addressing “the recent debate around our company,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave not an inch on Monday, saying, “what we are seeing is a coordinated effort to selectively use leaked documents to paint a false picture.”
Kicking off a conference call with financial analysts after quarterly earnings, Zuckerberg addressed the elephant in the room — weeks of devastating stories based largely but not solely on documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen. The common thread is the social media giant’s various corrosive impacts on society (from teen girls’ body image to the Jan. 6 insurrection) for the sake of profit, and that it knows but won’t make needed fixes.
Haugen delivered another round of blistering testimony to U.K. lawmakers at a earlier today following her appearance at a Senate hearing three weeks ago.
“The reality is that we have an open culture where we encourage discussion and research about our work,...
Kicking off a conference call with financial analysts after quarterly earnings, Zuckerberg addressed the elephant in the room — weeks of devastating stories based largely but not solely on documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen. The common thread is the social media giant’s various corrosive impacts on society (from teen girls’ body image to the Jan. 6 insurrection) for the sake of profit, and that it knows but won’t make needed fixes.
Haugen delivered another round of blistering testimony to U.K. lawmakers at a earlier today following her appearance at a Senate hearing three weeks ago.
“The reality is that we have an open culture where we encourage discussion and research about our work,...
- 10/25/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
There is “no will at the top of Facebook to ensure it is run in an adequately safe way” and Mark Zuckerberg is only concerned with shareholder interest, according to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who is giving evidence to a UK committee this afternoon.
Haugen, who leaked thousands of internal documents that have this week been collated by news outlets as the ‘Facebook Papers’, repeatedly stressed a “pattern of inadequacy” and “flatness” at Facebook that deems it unsafe for its users, especially those aged under 18.
She told US lawmakers earlier this month that breaking up Facebook wouldn’t lessen the risks its platform poses.
Giving evidence this afternoon to the UK’s Draft Online Safety Committee Bill Joint Committee, which is overseeing new UK laws to regulate social networks, she said: “Facebook is negligent and shows a pattern of inadequacy. It is unwilling to acknowledge its own power or accept that children are not adults.
Haugen, who leaked thousands of internal documents that have this week been collated by news outlets as the ‘Facebook Papers’, repeatedly stressed a “pattern of inadequacy” and “flatness” at Facebook that deems it unsafe for its users, especially those aged under 18.
She told US lawmakers earlier this month that breaking up Facebook wouldn’t lessen the risks its platform poses.
Giving evidence this afternoon to the UK’s Draft Online Safety Committee Bill Joint Committee, which is overseeing new UK laws to regulate social networks, she said: “Facebook is negligent and shows a pattern of inadequacy. It is unwilling to acknowledge its own power or accept that children are not adults.
- 10/25/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
A group of House Democrats plan to introduce legislation that will remove some of the liability protections for tech platforms, on the heels of a Facebook whistleblower’s testimony last week that was highly critical of the social giant’s practices.
The new legislation would target Section 230, a provision of a 1996 law that has given platforms liability for third party content.
The bill, to be introduced on Friday, would expose an online platform to liability when it “knowingly or recklessly uses an algorithm or other technology to recommend content that materially contributes to physical or severe emotional injury,” according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Its chairman, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-nj), said in a statement that platforms like Facebook continue to actively amplify content that endangers our families, promotes conspiracy theories, and incites extremism to generate more clicks and ad dollars. These platforms are not passive bystanders – they are knowingly choosing profits over people,...
The new legislation would target Section 230, a provision of a 1996 law that has given platforms liability for third party content.
The bill, to be introduced on Friday, would expose an online platform to liability when it “knowingly or recklessly uses an algorithm or other technology to recommend content that materially contributes to physical or severe emotional injury,” according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Its chairman, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-nj), said in a statement that platforms like Facebook continue to actively amplify content that endangers our families, promotes conspiracy theories, and incites extremism to generate more clicks and ad dollars. These platforms are not passive bystanders – they are knowingly choosing profits over people,...
- 10/14/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Fighting back after a whistleblower’s damning testimony earlier this week before a Congressional committee, Facebook spokesman Nick Clegg said on NBC’s Sunday Meet The Press that changes are coming to the social media outlet and to its cousin, Instagram.
Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister who is now vice president for global affairs and communications at Facebook, said the company will reduce the presence of politics on people’s feeds after it lifted safety measures implemented for the 2020 US election. He claimed the move stems from user feedback seeking “more friends, less politics.”
Facebook’s chief spokesman says the social media giant is going to institute new guards for younger Instagram users in the face of criticism from a whistleblower’s charges that the company puts profits ahead of users’ well being.
Later, in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Clegg said Instagram will...
Clegg, the former UK deputy prime minister who is now vice president for global affairs and communications at Facebook, said the company will reduce the presence of politics on people’s feeds after it lifted safety measures implemented for the 2020 US election. He claimed the move stems from user feedback seeking “more friends, less politics.”
Facebook’s chief spokesman says the social media giant is going to institute new guards for younger Instagram users in the face of criticism from a whistleblower’s charges that the company puts profits ahead of users’ well being.
Later, in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Clegg said Instagram will...
- 10/10/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
“Now exactly how big is this algorithm?” asked the tech dinosaur Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, as played by Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney, in the Congress-mocking cold open tonight spotlighting the Facebook whistleblower hearings in DC this past week.
Straight out of C-Span and featuring a healthy dose of SNL’s regular cast (though no Kate McKinnon for the second week in a row), the all over the map skit tossed in more than a few references to Netflix’s hit Squid Game in the senators’ ignorance of the Mark Zuckerberg-founded social media giant. Then there was a nanosecond savior in Pete Davidson throwing back to the MySpace era as website co-founder Tom Anderson – but that blast from the past wasn’t enough to add meat to this thin gruel.
The Og social media king pic.twitter.com/2OQm1LXGq0
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 10, 2021
The overall truth is,...
Straight out of C-Span and featuring a healthy dose of SNL’s regular cast (though no Kate McKinnon for the second week in a row), the all over the map skit tossed in more than a few references to Netflix’s hit Squid Game in the senators’ ignorance of the Mark Zuckerberg-founded social media giant. Then there was a nanosecond savior in Pete Davidson throwing back to the MySpace era as website co-founder Tom Anderson – but that blast from the past wasn’t enough to add meat to this thin gruel.
The Og social media king pic.twitter.com/2OQm1LXGq0
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 10, 2021
The overall truth is,...
- 10/10/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Kim Kardashian West opened her hosting stint on “Saturday Night Live” with a rapid-fire string of edgy jokes about her family, including a nod to her father’s history of defending accused double-murderer O.J. Simpson.
Wearing a bright pink body suit, Kardashian West made a reference to her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian, who was a close friend of Simpson. She noted that her father introduced her to the first Black person that she ever met. “Want to take a stab in the dark at who it was?” she said with a grin. She addressed Simpson’s sordid history of being accused of the brutal stabbing deaths of his ex-wife and her friend.
Having known Simpson “does leave a mark,” she said. “Or several. Or none at all. I still don’t know.”
Simpson, the former NFL great, was acquitted of murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1995.
During the episode,...
Wearing a bright pink body suit, Kardashian West made a reference to her late father, attorney Robert Kardashian, who was a close friend of Simpson. She noted that her father introduced her to the first Black person that she ever met. “Want to take a stab in the dark at who it was?” she said with a grin. She addressed Simpson’s sordid history of being accused of the brutal stabbing deaths of his ex-wife and her friend.
Having known Simpson “does leave a mark,” she said. “Or several. Or none at all. I still don’t know.”
Simpson, the former NFL great, was acquitted of murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1995.
During the episode,...
- 10/10/2021
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Facebook’s having a rotten week on both the public relations and apparently the technical side. According to the Downdetector site that lets users plug in outages and graphs them, complaints started to spike around 2:15 pm Et about problems accessing apps and Instagram and Facebook Messenger are having a similar issue, all acknowledged by Fb in a tweet apologizing for the inconvenience.
On Monday, Facebook apps were down for a prolonged six hours in the U.S. and around the world. The social media giant, which has nearly 3 billion users, said the outage was caused by a networking glitch that interrupted communications between its data centers. It said there was no evidence user data had been compromised. More specifically — “configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on...
On Monday, Facebook apps were down for a prolonged six hours in the U.S. and around the world. The social media giant, which has nearly 3 billion users, said the outage was caused by a networking glitch that interrupted communications between its data centers. It said there was no evidence user data had been compromised. More specifically — “configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centers caused issues that interrupted this communication. This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on...
- 10/8/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Embattled tech giant Facebook is the focus of a scripted drama series titled Doomsday Machine. Claire Foy, coming off her second Emmy win for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, is set to star as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in the project, from Anonymous Content and wiip.
Created by Homeland Elegies author Ayad Akhtar, Doomsday Machine is based on Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s bestselling book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination as well as their New York Times reporting and the reporting of the New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz. The book was published by Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins, in July 2021.
Doomsday Machine chronicles the political and social minefields Facebook has navigated on its relentless quest for growth. It focuses on Sandberg (Foy) and Mark Zuckerberg, who have been shaping the way that billions of people...
Created by Homeland Elegies author Ayad Akhtar, Doomsday Machine is based on Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang’s bestselling book An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination as well as their New York Times reporting and the reporting of the New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz. The book was published by Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins, in July 2021.
Doomsday Machine chronicles the political and social minefields Facebook has navigated on its relentless quest for growth. It focuses on Sandberg (Foy) and Mark Zuckerberg, who have been shaping the way that billions of people...
- 10/7/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
On Wednesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the host weighed in on the latest headache for Facebook, whistleblower Frances Haugen’s congressional testimony about the bad things Facebook does. “I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy,” she said during her testimony on Tuesday, according to the New York Times.
On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired back with what Kimmel called “the longest Facebook post ever recorded.”
“This post was so long, I thought my Aunt Fran wrote it,” Kimmel joked.
“The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, claimed, among other things, that Facebook prioritizes angry posts,” Kimmel said. “They get the most traction. Zuckerberg rejected those claims in an angry post.”
Zuckerberg denied Haugen’s claim that Facebook ignores research that shows its products are harmful, asking why the company would have an “industry-leading research program” if that were true.
“That’s kind of the point,...
On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired back with what Kimmel called “the longest Facebook post ever recorded.”
“This post was so long, I thought my Aunt Fran wrote it,” Kimmel joked.
“The whistleblower, Frances Haugen, claimed, among other things, that Facebook prioritizes angry posts,” Kimmel said. “They get the most traction. Zuckerberg rejected those claims in an angry post.”
Zuckerberg denied Haugen’s claim that Facebook ignores research that shows its products are harmful, asking why the company would have an “industry-leading research program” if that were true.
“That’s kind of the point,...
- 10/7/2021
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
San Francisco, Oct 6 (Ians) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has posted a staunch defence of his company in a note to Facebook staffers, saying that recent claims by an ex-employee about the social network’s negative effects on society “don’t make any sense”. On Tuesday, a former Facebook product manager named Frances Haugen testified before Congress […]...
- 10/6/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
After what he called “quite a week,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke out about what he termed “the false picture of the company that is being painted.”
“We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health,” he wrote in a missive to employees that he shared publicly. “It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives.”
This morning on Capitol Hill, however, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told rapt lawmakers that the company was “putting profits over our safety,” reiterating that Facebook was aware of the potential harm its platform poses to children and public discourse, yet chose not to take meaningful action.
Former employee Haugen copied thousands of pages of internal documents, including research on how Facebook amplifies hate speech and how it can be harmful to teens. She released those documents to The Wall Street Journal, which published a series of articles based on them.
“We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health,” he wrote in a missive to employees that he shared publicly. “It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives.”
This morning on Capitol Hill, however, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told rapt lawmakers that the company was “putting profits over our safety,” reiterating that Facebook was aware of the potential harm its platform poses to children and public discourse, yet chose not to take meaningful action.
Former employee Haugen copied thousands of pages of internal documents, including research on how Facebook amplifies hate speech and how it can be harmful to teens. She released those documents to The Wall Street Journal, which published a series of articles based on them.
- 10/6/2021
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated, 1:24 Pm Pt: Whistleblower Frances Haugen said breaking up Facebook – a solution lawsuits, lawmakers and regulators have rallied around — wouldn’t lessen the risks its platforms pose. That could be the sole — sort of – positive for Facebook in otherwise searing testimony by the former executive who described a company “stuck in a feedback loop it cannot get out of.”
“I’m actually against the breaking up of Facebook because you see the problems repeat themselves,” she said in response to a question. The problems are algorithms and AI, she said, which wouldn’t change even if the platforms split. If they did, she suggested, “most dollars will go to Instagram” and Facebook “will continue to be this Frankenstein that is altering, that is endangering lives around the world, only there won’t be money to fund it.
She said that for body dysmorphic disorder, Instagram is “distinctly worse” than TikTok or Snapchat. “Instagram is about bodies and comparing lifestyles,” Haugen said.
The broader point, she emphasized multiple times, is that Facebook creates “false choices”– hate speech vs free speech, accepting one if you want the other on the platform, but that its algorithms can absolutely be tweaked or more human curation added for it to be less damaging than it is now.
“This research, and the documents containing that research, is not only findings and conclusions, but also recommendations for changes,” she said of the data she took before leaving the company. “But, again and again, those recommendations were disregarded,” she said. Apparent evidence of that is why a series of WSJ stories last month presenting the data created the uproar it did.
Even if “0.1% of sessions, 1% of views” were impacted by a tweak, she said, Facebook “chose profits over safety.”
One takeaway for lawmakers as they hung on her words seemed to be the need for more whistleblowers to come forward. “Your being here really sends a profound message to our nation that one person can really make a difference. One person standing up and speaking out,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “You have raised awareness in a way that is very unique. I think there are other whistleblowers, and in the tech world you are showing them that there is a way to make this industry more responsible.”
Updated, 11:48 Am Pt: Facebook’s Lena Pietsch responded to whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony by challenging her company credentials.
In a statement delivered in the middle of Haugen’s testimony, Pietsch said the whistleblower was “a former product manager at Facebook who worked for the company for less than two years, had no direct reports, never attended a decision-point meeting with C-level executives — and testified more than six times to not working on the subject matter in question. We don’t agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about.”
Pietsch said that the company agreed that “it’s time to create standard rules for the internet. It’s been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”
Haugen, however, urged lawmakers to take aggressive action to rein in the company. Facebook has been running ads advocating for updating the laws, but critics see that as a way to try to get ahead of more stringent regulations and attempts to peer inside what lawmakers today called an impenetrable “black box.”
Some like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-mn), complained that the tech lobby was waiting in the wings as they propose legislation. She told Haugen, “You have said privacy legislation is not enough. I completely agree with you. We have not done anything to update our privacy laws in this country, our federal privacy laws. Nothing, zilch, in any major way. Why? Because there are lobbyists around every single corner of this building that have been hired by the tech industry.” She said that Facebook and the tech companies “are throwing a bunch of money around this town and people are listening to them.”
“I think the time has come for action, and you are the catalyst for that action,” Klobuchar told Haugen.
The hearing did unite Democrats and Republicans on the idea that action is needed, but that is still a long way from rallying around significant legislation.
Updated, 8:14 Am Pt: Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, told lawmakers that the company was “putting profits over our safety,” reiterating that the company was aware of the potential harm its platform poses to children and it public discourse yet chose not to take meaningful action.
While that message mirrored what she told 60 Minutes on Sunday, Haugen also outlined steps that she believes Congress should take the rein in the company.
Haugen said that lawmakers should explore changing Section 230, the passage of a 1996 law that exempts platforms from liability for third-party content, to exempt decisions that are made about algorithms. She also suggested a regulatory body that would have oversight over tech platforms.
She also countered Facebook’s own claims, in a flood of video and online ads, that profess to support changing Section 230 and privacy laws. But Haugen said that the company’s proposals will “not get to the core of the issue.” She instead called on lawmakers to “break out of their regulatory frames” and said that “until the incentives change, Facebook will not change.”
She also said that the company was less transparent that other platforms, accusing Facebook of hiding its data so that users can not discern how it personalizes its feeds.
“A company with such frightening influence over so many people needs real oversight,” she said.
Her testimony could give renewed energy for passing legislation, as lawmakers have proposed a series of measures over the past few years, only to see it languish. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-mn), who chairs the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said that they are working on legislation, after a House subcommittee passed a series of measures during the summer.
The official purpose of the hearing was to focus on Facebook’s impact on kids online, triggered by a Wall Street Journal expose showing that the company had research on the addictive nature of its platform and the impact that Instagram had on teen girls and negative body images.
But Haugen repeatedly focused on how the platform also impacted political discourse, with the algorithm favoring user engagement, or content likely to generated feelings of anger and outrage. Although Facebook uses artificial intelligence to try to root out incendiary content, she said that the company’s “own research says they cannot adequately identify dangerous content.”
“They cannot protect us from the harms that they know are in their own systems,” she said. While much of the focus has been on Facebook’s impact on political discourse in the U.S., Haugen linked the platform to unrest in other counties, including Ethiopia, where there have been complaints about hate speech on the platform amid ethnic violence. Previously: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-ct) said Tuesday the world’s largest social media company is facing a “big tobacco, jaw dropping moment of truth” as a massive cache of internal whistleblower documents show Facebook put profits ahead of the safety of children, when it knew it was causing harm.
He introduced a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing focused on testimony by former Facebook executive Frances Haugen by thanking her for “standing up to one of the most powerful, implacable corporations in the world.” CNN carried the hearing from the start, with Fox News also joining and MSNBC providing coverage.
“But you are not here alone. You are armed with document and evidence that speak volumes about how Facebook puts profits in front of people,” he said.
Facebook was the target of a series of scathing investigative reports last month in the Wall Street Journal, based on documents supplied by Haugen. They created an outcry by seeming to show that Facebook platforms harms teens in various ways and knows it. It prompted a hearing on the Hill last week with Facebooks’ Director, Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been mostly publicly silent in recent days and lawmakers berated him for going “sailing” as avalanche of documents hit and, in a weird coincidence, Fb’s social media platforms went down yesterday for an unprecedented six hours.
Sen. Blumenthal said that had Davis insisted then that the research unveiled in the documents “‘is not a bombshell.’ This research is the very definition of a bombshell. Facebook is facing a big tobacco moment. I helped lead the big tobacco xx I remember when we found those files that they had done research [showing tobacco is harmful] and concealed it.” Blumenthal — head of Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security — was a leader in exposing the harms of big tobacco.
“Facebook knows its products can be toxic to children … but they valued their profit more than the pain they cause children,” he said.
He said the SEC and the FTC should also investigate if Facebook had misled investors.
More to come.
“I’m actually against the breaking up of Facebook because you see the problems repeat themselves,” she said in response to a question. The problems are algorithms and AI, she said, which wouldn’t change even if the platforms split. If they did, she suggested, “most dollars will go to Instagram” and Facebook “will continue to be this Frankenstein that is altering, that is endangering lives around the world, only there won’t be money to fund it.
She said that for body dysmorphic disorder, Instagram is “distinctly worse” than TikTok or Snapchat. “Instagram is about bodies and comparing lifestyles,” Haugen said.
The broader point, she emphasized multiple times, is that Facebook creates “false choices”– hate speech vs free speech, accepting one if you want the other on the platform, but that its algorithms can absolutely be tweaked or more human curation added for it to be less damaging than it is now.
“This research, and the documents containing that research, is not only findings and conclusions, but also recommendations for changes,” she said of the data she took before leaving the company. “But, again and again, those recommendations were disregarded,” she said. Apparent evidence of that is why a series of WSJ stories last month presenting the data created the uproar it did.
Even if “0.1% of sessions, 1% of views” were impacted by a tweak, she said, Facebook “chose profits over safety.”
One takeaway for lawmakers as they hung on her words seemed to be the need for more whistleblowers to come forward. “Your being here really sends a profound message to our nation that one person can really make a difference. One person standing up and speaking out,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “You have raised awareness in a way that is very unique. I think there are other whistleblowers, and in the tech world you are showing them that there is a way to make this industry more responsible.”
Updated, 11:48 Am Pt: Facebook’s Lena Pietsch responded to whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony by challenging her company credentials.
In a statement delivered in the middle of Haugen’s testimony, Pietsch said the whistleblower was “a former product manager at Facebook who worked for the company for less than two years, had no direct reports, never attended a decision-point meeting with C-level executives — and testified more than six times to not working on the subject matter in question. We don’t agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about.”
Pietsch said that the company agreed that “it’s time to create standard rules for the internet. It’s been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act.”
Haugen, however, urged lawmakers to take aggressive action to rein in the company. Facebook has been running ads advocating for updating the laws, but critics see that as a way to try to get ahead of more stringent regulations and attempts to peer inside what lawmakers today called an impenetrable “black box.”
Some like Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-mn), complained that the tech lobby was waiting in the wings as they propose legislation. She told Haugen, “You have said privacy legislation is not enough. I completely agree with you. We have not done anything to update our privacy laws in this country, our federal privacy laws. Nothing, zilch, in any major way. Why? Because there are lobbyists around every single corner of this building that have been hired by the tech industry.” She said that Facebook and the tech companies “are throwing a bunch of money around this town and people are listening to them.”
“I think the time has come for action, and you are the catalyst for that action,” Klobuchar told Haugen.
The hearing did unite Democrats and Republicans on the idea that action is needed, but that is still a long way from rallying around significant legislation.
Updated, 8:14 Am Pt: Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower, told lawmakers that the company was “putting profits over our safety,” reiterating that the company was aware of the potential harm its platform poses to children and it public discourse yet chose not to take meaningful action.
While that message mirrored what she told 60 Minutes on Sunday, Haugen also outlined steps that she believes Congress should take the rein in the company.
Haugen said that lawmakers should explore changing Section 230, the passage of a 1996 law that exempts platforms from liability for third-party content, to exempt decisions that are made about algorithms. She also suggested a regulatory body that would have oversight over tech platforms.
She also countered Facebook’s own claims, in a flood of video and online ads, that profess to support changing Section 230 and privacy laws. But Haugen said that the company’s proposals will “not get to the core of the issue.” She instead called on lawmakers to “break out of their regulatory frames” and said that “until the incentives change, Facebook will not change.”
She also said that the company was less transparent that other platforms, accusing Facebook of hiding its data so that users can not discern how it personalizes its feeds.
“A company with such frightening influence over so many people needs real oversight,” she said.
Her testimony could give renewed energy for passing legislation, as lawmakers have proposed a series of measures over the past few years, only to see it languish. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-mn), who chairs the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said that they are working on legislation, after a House subcommittee passed a series of measures during the summer.
The official purpose of the hearing was to focus on Facebook’s impact on kids online, triggered by a Wall Street Journal expose showing that the company had research on the addictive nature of its platform and the impact that Instagram had on teen girls and negative body images.
But Haugen repeatedly focused on how the platform also impacted political discourse, with the algorithm favoring user engagement, or content likely to generated feelings of anger and outrage. Although Facebook uses artificial intelligence to try to root out incendiary content, she said that the company’s “own research says they cannot adequately identify dangerous content.”
“They cannot protect us from the harms that they know are in their own systems,” she said. While much of the focus has been on Facebook’s impact on political discourse in the U.S., Haugen linked the platform to unrest in other counties, including Ethiopia, where there have been complaints about hate speech on the platform amid ethnic violence. Previously: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-ct) said Tuesday the world’s largest social media company is facing a “big tobacco, jaw dropping moment of truth” as a massive cache of internal whistleblower documents show Facebook put profits ahead of the safety of children, when it knew it was causing harm.
He introduced a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing focused on testimony by former Facebook executive Frances Haugen by thanking her for “standing up to one of the most powerful, implacable corporations in the world.” CNN carried the hearing from the start, with Fox News also joining and MSNBC providing coverage.
“But you are not here alone. You are armed with document and evidence that speak volumes about how Facebook puts profits in front of people,” he said.
Facebook was the target of a series of scathing investigative reports last month in the Wall Street Journal, based on documents supplied by Haugen. They created an outcry by seeming to show that Facebook platforms harms teens in various ways and knows it. It prompted a hearing on the Hill last week with Facebooks’ Director, Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been mostly publicly silent in recent days and lawmakers berated him for going “sailing” as avalanche of documents hit and, in a weird coincidence, Fb’s social media platforms went down yesterday for an unprecedented six hours.
Sen. Blumenthal said that had Davis insisted then that the research unveiled in the documents “‘is not a bombshell.’ This research is the very definition of a bombshell. Facebook is facing a big tobacco moment. I helped lead the big tobacco xx I remember when we found those files that they had done research [showing tobacco is harmful] and concealed it.” Blumenthal — head of Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security — was a leader in exposing the harms of big tobacco.
“Facebook knows its products can be toxic to children … but they valued their profit more than the pain they cause children,” he said.
He said the SEC and the FTC should also investigate if Facebook had misled investors.
More to come.
- 10/5/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith and Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
A former Facebook data scientist told Congress on Tuesday that the social network giant’s products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S., adding that its executives refuse to change because they elevate profits over safety. And she said responsibility for that lies right at the top, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Frances Haugen, testifying to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, also offered thoughtful ideas about how Facebook’s social media platforms could be made safer. Though she was sharply critical of the company, she saw the possibility of constructive action and expressed some empathy for Facebook’s ...
Frances Haugen, testifying to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, also offered thoughtful ideas about how Facebook’s social media platforms could be made safer. Though she was sharply critical of the company, she saw the possibility of constructive action and expressed some empathy for Facebook’s ...
- 10/5/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A former Facebook data scientist told Congress on Tuesday that the social network giant’s products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S. while its executives refuse to change because they elevate profits over safety. And she laid responsibility with the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Frances Haugen testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. Speaking confidently at a charged hearing, she accused the company of being aware of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation.
“Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our ...
Frances Haugen testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. Speaking confidently at a charged hearing, she accused the company of being aware of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation.
“Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our ...
- 10/5/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Updated with service mostly restored. Facebook has given an official all-clear, but service appears to be returning for most users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp after a multi-hour outage.
The social media platforms went dark in much of the U.S., the UK and parts of Europe this morning. The timing generated a a large amount of speculation on Twitter (the main outlet for many Facebook users unable to express themselves in their usual fashion) that somehow the outage was related to some non-technical issue. The tech giant has faced weeks of hard-hitting stories about its inner workings in the Wall Street Journal. The reports alleging a range of unethical business decisions relied on a whistleblower, who went public in a widely seen 60 Minutes interview.
According to DownDetector, the number of reported issues with the three platforms declined markedly between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Et.
Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer at Facebook,...
The social media platforms went dark in much of the U.S., the UK and parts of Europe this morning. The timing generated a a large amount of speculation on Twitter (the main outlet for many Facebook users unable to express themselves in their usual fashion) that somehow the outage was related to some non-technical issue. The tech giant has faced weeks of hard-hitting stories about its inner workings in the Wall Street Journal. The reports alleging a range of unethical business decisions relied on a whistleblower, who went public in a widely seen 60 Minutes interview.
According to DownDetector, the number of reported issues with the three platforms declined markedly between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Et.
Mike Schroepfer, chief technology officer at Facebook,...
- 10/4/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Facebook led a rout of tech stocks and broader market indexes Monday amid outages at its core services and news that the whistleblower behind a recent series of damning stories in the Wall Street Journal will testify before Congress tomorrow.
Facebook shares were down by $324 or more than 5% as the Nasdaq dropped 340 points. The Djia shed about 400 points. Facebook’s mounting woes were compounded by economic jitters that hit tech stocks the hardest. Twitter and Snap plunged by more than 6%, Roku by 5%. Spotify was off 4% and Apple, Amazon and YouTube parent Google dipped about 3%. Netflix was dragged lower as well, losing 2.6%.
The sharp downturn comes amid jitters over supply chains and ahead of a a week full of economic data on inflation and the pace of the labor market recovery. Lawmakers haven’t yet agreed on a solution to raise the debt limit and avert a potential government default, a...
Facebook shares were down by $324 or more than 5% as the Nasdaq dropped 340 points. The Djia shed about 400 points. Facebook’s mounting woes were compounded by economic jitters that hit tech stocks the hardest. Twitter and Snap plunged by more than 6%, Roku by 5%. Spotify was off 4% and Apple, Amazon and YouTube parent Google dipped about 3%. Netflix was dragged lower as well, losing 2.6%.
The sharp downturn comes amid jitters over supply chains and ahead of a a week full of economic data on inflation and the pace of the labor market recovery. Lawmakers haven’t yet agreed on a solution to raise the debt limit and avert a potential government default, a...
- 10/4/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
A former Facebook employee who has, with the release of a trove of internal documents, become a whisteblower over the company’s practices, revealed herself on Sunday on 60 Minutes.
Frances Haugen, a data scientist who until May worked on the company’s efforts to combat misinformation, told correspondent Scott Pelley that the company is “paying for its profits with our safety.” Haugen copied thousands of pages of internal documents, revealing research on how its platform amplifies hate speech and how it can be harmful to teens. She released those documents to The Wall Street Journal, which revealed them in stories last month that immediately triggered criticism from Capitol Hill lawmakers.
Haugen’s attorney also filed at least eight complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission, on the grounds that the company is making material misstatements that adversely affect investors.
“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was...
Frances Haugen, a data scientist who until May worked on the company’s efforts to combat misinformation, told correspondent Scott Pelley that the company is “paying for its profits with our safety.” Haugen copied thousands of pages of internal documents, revealing research on how its platform amplifies hate speech and how it can be harmful to teens. She released those documents to The Wall Street Journal, which revealed them in stories last month that immediately triggered criticism from Capitol Hill lawmakers.
Haugen’s attorney also filed at least eight complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission, on the grounds that the company is making material misstatements that adversely affect investors.
“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was...
- 10/4/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
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