Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told European Union lawmakers Monday (Nov. 8) that she believes Europe’s draft rules for tackling illegal online content could become a global standard, Reuters reported.
Haugen’s words come as EU lawmakers are looking at improving the Digital Services Act (DSA) — and after accusing Facebook, her former employer, of putting the company profits over cracking down on hate speech and misinformation.
“It can inspire other countries, including my own, to pursue new rules that would safeguard our democracies but the law has to be strong and its enforcement firm,” she said of the DSA. “Otherwise, we will lose this once in a generation opportunity to align the future of technology and democracy.”
According to Haugen, the DSA should be broadened to include online content that goes against a platform’s terms and conditions. It should also work to make sure that platforms have to assume responsibility for risks beyond spreading content, such as election misinformation or mental health information.
Haugen added that news media content shouldn’t be left out of the rules, as disinformation campaigns could exploit digital platforms.
Facebook has bucked back against Haugen’s claims. In a blog post, Monika Bickert, vice president of content policy with the social media giant, said the company has “always had the commercial incentive to remove harmful content from our platform,” adding that the company was ready to spend more than $5 billion this year on safety and security.
PYMNTS wrote about another recent Facebook controversy, in which Phhhoto, a photo app startup that is no longer operating, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that the social media company used anticompetitive tactics to fight off rivals.
Read more: Defunct Startup Phhhoto Slaps Facebook With Lawsuit Alleging Anti-Competitive Practices
Phhhoto’s founders say Facebook expressed a fake interest in the app but then launched Instagram, which had similar features, and later buried Phhhoto’s content on Instagram.
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