Two former Big Tech whistleblowers who testified before Congress about what they saw as disturbing business practices at Twitter (now X) and Facebook (now Meta) are sounding the alarm on the lack of progress made since they came forward.
Anika Collier Navaroli testified to the House Jan. 6 committee about Twitter’s role in fueling the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, while Frances Haugen testified before Congress in October 2021 about Facebook’s ability to manipulate users and keep them addicted. They both just wrote op-eds for The Hill that highlight what little has been done since.
In her piece, Navaroli wrote:
With the Israel-Hamas war now unfolding, we are now seeing that industry fail its first test since Musk began implementing his philosophy of free-speech absolutism. What has now become clear is that Musk’s vision of speech on X is one of the greatest dangers to democracy, especially leading into the 2024 elections.
As evidence of the danger Elon Musk poses to civil society, Navaroli’s op-ed highlights the X owner’s efforts to weaken content moderation; his dismantling of a team focused on election misinformation; X’s hopelessly flawed verification system; and Musk’s promotion of accounts known to spread misinformation.
Navaroli listed ways that other tech companies, including Meta, Amazon and Google, seem to have followed Musk’s lead on content moderation, bemoaning that the “largest communications platforms are now vulnerable to manipulation and interference at a time when hostile nations are actively seeking to undermine democracy.”
And, importantly, she encouraged everyone not to use X anymore.
Meanwhile, Haugen’s op-ed expressed frustration with the slow-moving pace of social media regulation at the state and federal levels. She wrote:
On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general established it is time to hold Big Tech accountable for the tragedy social media has created concerning our children. If the evidence supporting kids’ online safety is so strong that it can bring together states that rarely agree on anything, why are all legislative efforts stymied? The answer is unsurprising — Big Tech has repeatedly and loudly stated in public that it’s time to regulate social media, while privately funding trade lobbying groups that sue the states that try.
She highlighted a trade group called NetChoice, which represents Google, TikTok, Meta and other big names in Big Tech, and wrote about how it has opposed various attempts at regulation.
“We must ask whether calls for child protection are genuine or merely another calculated move in a game where profits and public image reign supreme,” Haugen wrote. “Our children’s safety deserves more than hollow promises and half-hearted gestures.”
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.