Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee MEPs discusses the impact of the recently agreed Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with Facebook whistleblower Frances HAUGEN. The discussion focuses in particular on how the Digital Services Act could set the global benchmark for regulating online platforms in the future. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

Brussels

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

exchange of views

digital services act (T)

EP Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Exchange of views with Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower: opening statements

SOUNDBITE (English), Anna CAVAZZINI (Greens/EFA, DE), Introduction to the opening statement by Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower

SOUNDBITE (English), Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. I'd like to start with a heartfelt congratulations on reaching a political agreement on the Digital Services Act, a landmark agreement that will make social media less toxic for users.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, The Digital Services Act is the most significant piece of social media legislation in history. It goes to the heart of what I've tried to do as a whistle blower who worked inside Facebook makes social media far better without impinging on freedom of speech. In Europe, we will now be able to see a modern alternative to the current whack a mole approach to content moderation that results in endless discussions on which particular piece of content should stay up or must go down.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Instead, the DSA focus on the oversight of the design and implementation of systems, rather than determining what is good or bad speech. One of the core reasons that I came forward was that Facebook's current strategy of focussing only on content moderation, of only allowing the public to participate in the question of how to regulate social media.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, The focus on content moderation was a strategy that didn't work in a linguistically diverse world. Facebook is very different than other industries, similar amounts of power. If we are talking about an oil company, we or a car company, we would have the ability to inspect the products of those companies. We could buy a car and we could crash it. We could put sensors on the car and see does it actually pollute the way it claims to.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, If children were being harmed near an oil derrick, we wanted to take the word of the oil company that, "oh, no,  it's the clouds that did it, not our smoke or it's not us. We were the pollutants we could go check ourselves. Facebook is different because we only ever see our screens, all the choices that impact us, all the trade offs happen somewhere mysteriously, far away.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, And up until now, Facebook has taken advantage of that secrecy to operate in a very different way that they've only given us a tiny little slice of the conversation. They framed it for us and said, this is what we're are allowed to talk about. And the reason why the DSA is so important is focus on systems is so important is that when we build safer products, we get safer products for the entire world, no matter what language we speak.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, I was in Denmark maybe two days ago and there's only maybe seven million Danish speakers. Do people not deserve to be safe, excuse me, they're six million. Even fewer. There's six million Danish speakers.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, There's more than Norwegians. And I was in Norway just a couple months before that. But Norwegians and Danes deserve to be safe, too, just because they speak smaller languages. And this focus on systems really shows that Europeans are used to living in a linguistic diverse democracy. And you understand the value of those cultures and the diversity.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, We need to show tech companies that they need to design ways where everyone is safe, no matter what language they speak. This is the right way forward and it can be a model for other countries around the world. The DSA will be the first instrument that creates a holistic set of obligations for tech companies, which will force them to properly assess and mitigate the harms of their products that they can cause.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Tech moves incredibly fast and will only continue to move faster, focussing on responsibilities and obligations as a way to be more future proof by focussing on risk assessments and on process, instead of pointing out the specific features that we want changed.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, This means that, for the first time, digital service providers will have incentives to put people over profit when they're facing a choice between profit maximising strategies or the public interest. Employees inside the companies will feel supported to do the right thing when assessing potential risks a product design faces.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, We have the backs of the people who have strong conscience inside of Facebook. We're giving them the space to do the right thing. This sounds revolutionary, but it is standard practise in other areas of our economy. Global companies have chosen profit maximising strategies at the expense of the public interest. Before we've seen it with pollution in the chemical industry, environmental damage and the national natural resource extraction economy and predatory mortgages and financial services.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, What distinguishes the bad practises of these other industries from big tech is simple. There are laws holding them accountable. That's what government is intended to do in democratic capitalism. Use the law to steer the market back into alignment with the public interest when concentrated monopolistic power privileges the few over the many and distorts how the free market operates.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, This kind of correction is vital. This is not about protectionism. This is about protecting the interests of citizens all over the world. These rules are like the systems in the United States that compel pharmaceutical companies to keep drugs safe and to allow the Food and Drug Administration to independently verify the results. Most people aren't aware of them, but we're all glad that they're there.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, As an algorithmic specialist and data scientist, I'm most excited by the DMA's new requirements for access to data for researchers, auditors and regulators. This will allow independent research into the impact of social media products on public health and welfare. For example, Facebook, Instagram and others will have to open up the black box of which pages posting videos get the most likes and shares shining light on the outcome of the algorithms.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, This will allow thousands more people, not just those who work at these companies to address the complex problems of how information markets change social outcomes. No longer will be depend on taking the company's word for it when they say they are trying to fix a safety problem.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Democratic and investor accountability and oversight of big companies boils down to whether we can accurately diagnose the problems their products are causing, devise solutions and verify that the industry is actually following through with them. The era of Just Trust Us is over.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Hence, I am pleased to see that some of the most innovative parts of the DSA are actively being discussed in the United States with both parties increasingly cooperating to understand the joint challenges and potential solutions to improve transparency of content, moderation, algorithmic amplification and data access for researchers.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Monday's statement from the EU and the U.S. Trade and Technology Council between the EU and the US is encouraging as it promises more alignment on these topics in particular by advancing data access for researchers in the United States. Europe has laid out a path that we can adapt in our uniquely American way and learn from.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Finally, I want to end with a strong call on all of you and your respective governments to put your money where your mouth is. The law cannot remain a dead letter. Strong enforcement absolutely critical to achieve meaningful and positive changes. We are living in difficult economic times with rising inflation, the war in Ukraine and the still ongoing covid-19 crisis all having significant budgetary impacts.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, But we need significant resources to make the DSA a success story, so require investments to train auditors and regulators. It requires resources to build new data analysis infrastructures, requires resources to track people with the right profiles. The EU has a unique chance to get this right, and I wish you all the courage to make the right decisions in order to make it a success.

SOUNDBITE (English),  Frances HAUGEN, Facebook whistleblower, Thank you so much for putting so much hard work into this. I know it is hard, but it's going to change history. It was really important and I'm so grateful for everything you guys have done. Thank you.