The impact of Facebook's universal reach will be back in the congressional spotlight Tuesday, as whistleblower Frances Haugen appears before a Senate subcommittee.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D/CT) says Haugen, whose identity was revealed Sunday night on 60 Minutes, will be part of a "gripping, riveting bipartisan moment."
Haugen, a data scientist who was a Facebook executive, says the company supercharged its profits while burying evidence that its products-- including Instagram-- often have a devastating impact on society.
Facebook projects it will earn $119 billion in revenue in 2021. The company is worth almost $1 trillion.
Haugen says those eye-popping financial numbers were partially built on algorithms that develop a domino effect of hateful content and misinformation. She has also produced documents showing the company knew of Instagram’s harm to some teens, but did little or nothing about it.
"There's powerful bipartisan consensus," says Blumenthal, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, "on the outrage and the real anger and impatience that we feel with these revelations."
