Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower and former product manager at the social media company, will give evidence to the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on the draft Online Safety Bill on Monday 25th October from 2.30pm.
This follows her testimony to the US Congress on 5th October. It will be the first public evidence she has given in Europe regarding her experiences at the company and her ideas to regulate social media.
Damian Collins MP, chair of the Committee, says, “Frances Haugen’s evidence has so far strengthened the case for an independent regulator with the power to audit and inspect the big tech companies.
“Mark Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg have complained that she has only presented a partial view of the company, whereas they want to stop any insights into how the company manages harmful content to get into the public domain, unless they have personally approved them.
“There needs to be greater transparency on the decisions companies like Facebook take when they trade off user safety for user engagement. We look forward to discussing these issues with Frances Haugen.”
Her evidence will inform the committee’s work in shaping the Online Safety Bill, a piece of legislation aimed at regulating social media due to be put before Parliament for approval in 2022.
The Bill, published by the UK government in draft form in May 2021, is designed to establish a new regulatory framework to tackle harmful content online.
- The committee is made up of members from both Houses and is chaired by Damian Collins MP, the former chair of House of Commons DCMS Select Committee, whose inquiry on Disinformation and ‘fake news’ recommended tougher action on online hate speech and greater regulation of social media companies, including Facebook.
- The committee, which will report its findings to the Government before 10 December 2021, is asking the public for their views on whether the draft law will achieve its aim of making the UK ‘the safest place to be online.’ The committee is specifically seeking views on how the Bill compares to online safety legislation in other countries, and whether it represents a threat to freedom of expression. Anyone with views on the Bill can submit them via the Committee’s website.
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