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French elected officials ready to hear Frances Haugen, the former American employee of Facebook

2021-11-09T20:49:52.600Z


The Facebook whistleblower is received this Wednesday at the Assembly and the Senate. Whistleblower Frances Haugen's European tour continues. After London, Lisbon, Berlin and Brussels, the former American employee of Facebook is expected this Wednesday in Paris, where she will be received at 9 a.m. at the National Assembly by the committees on laws and economic affairs, then from 4.30 p.m. in the Senate by the Culture and European Affairs committees. Each of the two auditions shoul


Whistleblower Frances Haugen's European tour continues.

After London, Lisbon, Berlin and Brussels, the former American employee of Facebook is expected this Wednesday in Paris, where she will be received at 9 a.m. at the National Assembly by the committees on laws and economic affairs, then from 4.30 p.m. in the Senate by the Culture and European Affairs committees.

Each of the two auditions should last 90 to 120 minutes.

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"It will be more of an exchange than a hearing,"

notes LREM deputy Jean-Michel Mis, who

"

does not

" expect new major revelations "

. Since coming out of the shadows in September, Frances Haugen has indeed had the opportunity to speak on several occasions behind the scenes of the company where she worked on the protection of the elections in the face of attempts to manipulate public opinion on Facebook. , and from which she exfiltrated thousands of documents. She claims that the American group prioritizes its profits over the protection of its users, which Facebook vigorously contests.

For French elected officials, digital specialists, the whistleblower's revelations confirmed

"what had already been theorized by researchers on the perverse effects of social networks"

, their moderation and their content sorting algorithms, recalls LREM deputy Éric Bothorel.

“Its great strength lies in having succeeded in extracting documents and making them into a very concrete and constructed subject,”

adds Jean-Michel Mis.

"She does pedagogy on what she criticizes her ex-employer."

European regulation

But while in the United States, Frances Haugen must convince elected officials to legislate to regulate Gafa, the European context is different.

Regulation is already underway, whether with the RPGD (2018) on the issue of the processing of personal data, or with the two major regulations, Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, under discussion in Brussels.

"The orientation of the questions will be different because the point of view is not the same," said

Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly.

"This hearing will feed the opinion that the Senate must submit in early December on the Digital Services Act and help us improve this text."

Facebook: whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies in front of the European Parliament - Watch on Figaro Live

There should therefore be a lot of discussion of European regulation during these hearings.

"I hear him ask what points are not settled by these texts"

indicates Eric Bothorel.

“What safeguards should we imagine?

Would the dismantling of these giants be of any use? "

adds Catherine Morin-Desailly.

See also

The week of all extremes for Facebook

Frances Haugen's hearing comes just before the Assembly's Law Committee examines the transposition of a European directive strengthening the protection of whistleblowers.

"Yes, the timing of this hearing is appropriate, but no, that should not change the vote"

, underlines the deputy MoDem Sylvain Waserman, who carries this text. The latter auditioned other French whistleblowers.

But Frances Haugen's profile stands out: the young woman has surrounded herself with lawyer Lawrence Lessig, a team of communicators from Bryson Gillette, and is financially supported by the NGO Luminate of billionaire Pierre Omidyar (founder of 'eBay), which has joined the ranks of Silicon Valley critics.

What arouse suspicion about his real ambitions.

Sylvain Waserman brushes aside these questions.

“The European directive says it clearly: whether or not the whistleblower is an altar boy is not the subject.

Whatever his deep intentions, the main thing is what he denounces. "

Source: lefigaro

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