By Elizabeth Culliford

WASHINGTON (Reuters), – Frances Haugen, a whistleblower for Facebook (NASDAQ) said Tuesday to Congress that one solution to making social media less dangerous would be to set up a special regulatory agency to supervise companies such as Facebook. It could also include ex-tech workers.

“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 (NYSE:) 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.

Haugen was a former product manager for the company. He said that the profit motive at Facebook (which owns Instagram) is strong enough to ensure the company does not make changes without being pressured. Facebook should not be expected to change until incentives are changed at Facebook. She stated that Congress must take action.

Haugen stated that she was also going to establish policies that allow Facebook to share its internal research with Congress, and other oversight agencies, if elected CEO. This would ensure transparency and openness for the public and their research into the impact of Facebook’s sites, algorithms, and systems.

Lina Pietsch of Facebook said the company was a long-time advocate for oversight by government. “We have been calling for updated regulations ourselves for two and a half years,” she said.

It has previously called for regulation https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/24/facebooks-nick-clegg-a-bipartisan-approach-to-break-the-deadlock-on-internet-regulation.html of the internet, including a digital regulator, particularly a reform of Section 230 to give the companies immunity from liability only if they follow best practices.

The hearing saw lawmakers not rebut Haugen’s reform suggestions, but in most cases they pointed out legislation that could do the same.

Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal, both senators from the bipartisan party, introduced a June bill that required major internet platforms, such as Facebook, to permit users to see content not yet decided by algorithms.

Haugen encouraged legislators to amend Section 230. Haugen urged lawmakers to change Section 230 in order for companies to be held accountable for the algorithms they use, which can often determine what users see on social media when they log in.

Facebook shouldn’t be allowed to choose whether it prioritizes growth, virality, and safety over the public. She said that they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it because their safety is at stake.

Haugen encouraged users to raise their age limit to Facebook from 13 to 16 years old, or 18 for those who are addicted to the site.

The current law provides more online protection for children aged 12 or under than those who are teenagers. Congress has a bill that would raise the legal age to 15.

Facebook announced in late September, shortly after a report based largely on documents from Haugen that Instagram was harmful to teenagers, that it was pausing its work https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-puts-instagram-kids-hold-amid-criticism-planned-app-2021-09-27 on a version of Instagram aimed at younger users.