After its monster blackout on Monday, Facebook faltered again on Tuesday. For several days, the American giant has been the target of revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen, heard Tuesday before the US Congress. His presentation damaged the image of Facebook… To the point of pushing Congress to better regulate the Californian giant? 20 minutes make the point.
Who is the whistleblower Frances Haugen?
Frances Haugen, 37, is a former Facebook employee. In 2019, this engineer, project manager, worked through Google Search and the dating site Hinge, joined the Californian giant in the “civic integrity” department. It was in particular his service that was responsible, during the 2020 US presidential election, to monitor the dissemination of fake news likely to modify the integrity of the ballot. In May 2021, she left the company with millions of internal documents that she gave to the Wall Street Journal.
What did she say to the US Congress?
The whistleblower calls into question Facebook on two distinct components, but which meet according to her, in the desire to finance “their profits with our safety”. The first dossier, revealed by the Wall Street Journal in mid-September, reports on research conducted by the company into the effects of Instagram use among teens.
In particular, studies have shown that 32% of teenage girls felt that using Instagram made them look more negative. The subject was broached during Frances Haugen’s appearance before Congress on Tuesday. The whistleblower urged the power in place to act to guarantee the safety of the youngest, in front of a conquered assembly. “Frances Haugen was unanimous before Congress, she did not look like a bitter former employee who wants to destroy Facebook”, comments Nicole Bacharan *, historian specializing in the United States, interviewed by 20 minutes.
“Facebook is weakened by these hearings during which it criticizes their method of user engagement and their consequences (misinformation about vaccines, online hatred, etc.) and the fact that they are aware of the harmful aspect and that they hide it, hence its comparison with the tobacco industry, ”she analyzes. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Frances Haugen also points to Facebook’s involvement in the assault on Capitol Hill by pro-Trump activists on January 6, 2020.
How does Facebook’s algorithm relate to the assault on Capitol Hill?
“The whole question is to know how much Facebook is responsible,” points out Nicole Bacharan. “According to what Frances Haugen explained, the algorithms amplify the delivery of content that they have determined to be of interest to users. “In a situation like the Capitol Assault project, pro-Trump activists and users interested in conspiracy theories” have thus received all the more content likely “to federate them or to bring them to action. .
Why is the use of Instagram by adolescents at the center of the debate?
“Teenagers are easily influenced, they are minors and we cannot blame them for protecting themselves,” emphasizes Nicole Bacharan. The historian recalls that the United States often emphasizes the responsibility of parents, but a real question arises with the use of social networks. “One of the senators told the story of his daughter who became anorexic because of the body image on Instagram,” she said.
While Facebook has paused its study to develop an Instagram under 13, the law could outright ban it. But if lawmakers are aware of the problems of harassment or image linked to social networks, “Instagram remains the place of adolescence”.
How can the US Congress act to make Instagram and Facebook safer for its users?
During the hearing, the whistleblower and several senators called on Joe Biden and Congress to act for more control. Nicole Bacharan wants to be optimistic about the consequences of this scandal: “I think that Congress can make things happen. Even Facebook is not keen on escaping reform. “
Many voices in the group admit that it is necessary to change the rules on the Internet. “There is a real consensus between Democrats and Republicans, the fact that laws are inevitable is acquired,” insists the historian. She points to “the obvious danger of social networks”, their global nature “in terms of information on health, democracy” and the fact that this information affects billions of people.
At the same time, regulating Facebook, an American firm, could give the field free to the Chinese giant Tik Tok, in a context of trade war between the two countries. It is therefore a question of regulating without torpedoing American interests.
* Nicole Bacharan is the author of The great days that changed America, co-written with Dominique Simonnet, at Perrin editions.