Facebook must be held accountable

The giant social media platform is amplifying misinformation and content that harms children

During a recent congressional hearing senators vowed to hit Facebook with new regulations after a whistleblower testified that the company’s own research shows its algorithms amplify misinformation and content that harms children.

Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen told a Senate subcommittee that the company puts profit over the mental health of users, including children.

Haugen said that the world’s largest social media platform inflicts harm on children and refuses to monitor offensive content properly.

The hearing came after Haugen leaked internal documents to the Wall Street Journal last month, which accused Facebook of downplaying the negative effects of Instagram, allowing opponents of the COVID-19 vaccine to spread misinformation, and failing to provide adequate response when concerns were raised regarding human traffickers using the platform.

Facebook has owned Instagram, the giant photo social media network valued at around $100 billion since 2012.  

“It has profited off spreading misinformation and disinformation and sowing hate,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said during an Oct 5 meeting of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. 

The senate panel is examining Facebook’s use of information from its own researchers that could indicate potential harm for some of its young users, especially girls, while it publicly downplayed the negative impacts. For some of the Instagram-devoted teens, the peer pressure generated by the visually focused app led to mental-health and body-image problems, and in some cases, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts, the research showed.  

The Wall Street Journal report has set off a wave of anger from lawmakers, child-development experts and parents. There have been comparisons to the tobacco industry's cover-up of cigarettes' harmful effects. 

Haugen said that Facebook realized if they changed the algorithm to be safer, people would spend less time on the site, click on less and the company would make less money.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a statement saying Haugen’s characterization of the company was a ‘false picture.”

He said recent coverage of the tech giant “doesn’t reflect the company we know.”

“We care deeply about issues of life safety, well-being and mental health. It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives, “he added.

Despite Zuckerberg’s protestation, Haugen amassed thousands of pages of internal research which is damning evidence. 

Facebook is too big and influential not to be more socially responsible. More than 3.5 billion people around the world use Facebook and its family of apps, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp to communicate with family and friends, distribute political messaging and advertise their business. 

In 2020, the average adult spent three hours a day on social media, with Facebook leading the way. Americans spend an average of 58 minutes per day on this mega social network, according to a study by uswitch.com, an online and telephone comparison and switching service. Coming in second is the image sharing network, Instagram, which is popular among Gen-Z, those born after 1996. Americans spend an average of 53 minutes per day on Instagram.  

Facebook and Instagram are too big and their impact too great to be irresponsible. They must be held accountable.

The good news is that both Democrats and Republicans ended the hearing with acknowledgement that regulations must be introduced to change the way Facebook amplifies its content and targets users.  

Congress must strongly consider some of the targeted legislative remedies Haugen recommended including new curbs on the long-standing legal protections for speech posted on social media platforms including removing a law that shields companies from liability for what users’ post.  

Haugen recommended removing the protections in cases where dominant content driven by computer algorithms favors massive engagement by users over public safety.  

“Congressional action is needed,” Haugen told the senators in her testimony. “(Facebook) won’t solve this crisis without your help.”

There is a real and legitimate concern that the government will overreach and infringe on freedom of speech if it takes additional actions to regulate the internet.  

While we must be watchful and vigilant against lawmakers abusing their powers, doing nothing is not an option.

Also, while lawmakers must be careful of censorship and self-serving efforts to stifle controversial views and political speech, there is a need for meaningful reforms for social media platforms and laws that impact Big Tech. 

At the very minimum, there should be bipartisan support for federal laws to protect children from harmful social media content.

Irv Randolph is an award-winning journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @IrvRandolph and at the RandolphReport@substack.com