If Facebook is the problem, is a social media regulator the fix?


Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation hearing entitled Protecting Kids Online Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower on Capitol Hill in Washington U.S. October 5 2021.   Jabin BotsfordPool via REUTERS

Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled 'Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower' on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S., October 5, 2021. Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told Congress on Tuesday that one option for making social media less harmful would be to create a dedicated regulatory agency to oversee companies like Facebook, and could have former tech workers on staff.

"Right now, the only people in the world who are trained to ... understand what's happening inside of Facebook, are people who grew up inside of Facebook or Pinterest or another social media company," she said during a hearing https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-whistleblower-say-former-employer-an-urgent-threat-us-2021-10-05 before a Senate Commerce Committee panel.

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