It recently became known that a second whistleblower wants to testify against Facebook before Congress, following the example of Frances Haugen . This is Sophie Zhang , a former data scientist at Facebook. Now it is said that Zhang has agreed to testify before the British Parliament as well .
Learn more: Another whistleblower wants to testify against Facebook
The former Facebook executive claims he was fired from the company after highlighting its failure to combat election interference in Honduras and several other countries.
When Sophie Zhang made her revelations, a Facebook spokesperson said “we fundamentally disagree” with her characterizations.
However, it appears that the second whistleblower will testify against Facebook to British lawmakers on October 18. Europe has proposed new legislation that threatens tech giants with large fines if they fail to take action against illegal or harmful content.
Lawmakers “will ask Sophie Zhang about her work as a data scientist for Facebook’s Site Integrity fake engagement team, which deals with bot accounts, often used by state agencies in countries like Russia,” said Damian Collins, who is chairman of the committee that deals with tackling harmful content online.
Sophie Zhang is not the only one to testify against Facebook in the British parliament. Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who began the revelations about the company by providing the media with thousands of internal Facebook documents, has agreed to testify in Parliament. European Union lawmakers have also asked her to testify.
Learn more: Facebook Whistleblower: Frances Haugen to testify in Europe
After providing the documents and her revelations to “60 Minutes,” Haugen testified before Congress. She spoke about internal Facebook studies that showed the negative impact of Instagram on teenagers.
The whistleblower said Facebook leadership put “profits before people” and called on U.S. lawmakers to intervene. In response, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergsaid Haugen’s accusations were untrue.
See also: Mark Zuckerberg Defends Facebook After Whistleblower Allegations
Facebook is facing one of the biggest crises in its recent history, following revelations by Frances Haugen and Sophie Zhang. In the wake of this and other similar incidents, lawmakers around the world are trying to curb the enormous power and influence of America's tech giants.
Source: CNBC
