Congress quizzes Facebook whistleblower on potential Section 230 reforms | Engadget

Frances Haugen, the previous Facebook worker turned whistleblower, testified in Congress for the second time in lower than two months. Speaking to the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, Haugen as soon as once more urged Congress to behave to rein in Facebook.

Unlike Haugen’s final Congressional listening to, throughout which she briefed senators on Facebook’s inside analysis, Wednesday’s listening to was meant to be centered on potential reforms of social media platforms. Specifically, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the that shields on-line platforms from legal responsibility for his or her customers’ actions.

“This committee’s attention and this Congress’ action are critical,” she stated throughout her opening assertion. But she additionally informed Congress they need to watch out with altering the legislation because it may have unintended penalties.

“As you consider reform to section 230, I encourage you to move forward with your eyes open to the consequences of reform,” Haugen stated. “Congress has instituted carve outs to Section 230 in recent years. I encourage you to talk to human rights advocates who can help provide context on how the last reform of 230 had dramatic impacts on the safety of some of the most vulnerable people in our society, but has been rarely used for its original purpose.”

Pennsylvania Rep. Michael Doyle started the listening to by acknowledging the significance of Section 230, however stated the courts’ interpretation of the rule ought to change. “To be clear, Section 230 is critically important to promoting a vibrant and free internet,” he stated. “But I agree with those who suggest the courts have allowed it to stray too far.”

But all through the listening to, there was little dialogue of particular adjustments or potential laws that might change 230. Many members of Congress repeated the necessity for bipartisan motion, however there gave the impression to be little settlement on what actions they need to take. Doyle famous in his opening assertion that members of the committee have proposed 4 payments that might make adjustments to Section 230, together with one that might protections for firms that deployed .

But these 4 payments had been barely mentioned through the four-hour listening to, which , veered into different points. Many Republican members on the committee opted to deal with “censorship,” and their perception that platforms like Facebook are biased towards them. Haugen countered that Facebook may implement adjustments that might make the platform safer no matter a person’s political views.

“We spent a lot of time today talking about censorship … what we need to do is make the platform safer through product choices,” Haugen stated, describing how including “friction” to resharing content material may cut back the unfold of misinformation. “We need solutions like friction to make the platform safe for everyone even if you don’t speak English.”

At one level, Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense Media, appeared to develop annoyed. “I would like to say to this committee, you’ve talked about this for years, but you haven’t done anything,” he stated. “Show me a piece of legislation that you passed. 230 reform is going to be very important for protecting kids and teens on platforms like Instagram and holding them accountable and liable. But you also as a committee have to do privacy, antitrust and design reform.”