Facebook whistleblower testifies at Senate hearing on kids’ safety online - 10/5 (FULL LIVE STREAM)

Former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen testifies on Oct. 5 at a Senate subcommittee hearing on company practices that negatively impact teens.

Widely referred to as a “Facebook whistleblower” responsible for leaking documents behind a Wall Street Journal series, Haugen revealed her identity two days before the hearing in a “60 Minutes” interview. She said the tens of thousands of pages of leaked internal company research show that Facebook has been negligent in eliminating violence, misinformation and other harmful content from its services, and that it has misled investors about these efforts.

Lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the Wall Street Journal’s reporting last week. They focused in part on company research that showed that Facebook-owned Instagram was making teen girls’ body image issues worse. “As these young women begin to consume this eating disorder content, they get more and more depressed,” Haugen said on “60 Minutes.” “And it actually makes them use the app more. And so, they end up in this feedback cycle where they hate their bodies more and more.”

The Post’s Libby Casey will anchor live coverage and be joined by reporters Rhonda Colvin, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Will Oremus, Cat Zakrzewski and columnist James Hohmann. Read more: https://wapo.st/3mkKgrK. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

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