After the revelations on Facebook, Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht has now also intervened. It is “important to put the reins on Facebook & Co. and tighten them tightly,” she says.
Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht calls in view of the latest allegations about business practices on Facebook to put social networks on the curb.
“The latest revelations about Facebook show how urgently we need strong and effective regulation of social networks in Europe,” said the SPD politician to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (RND). “In a united Europe, it affects us all when social networks with their algorithms intensify hatred and agitation and promote undesirable political and social developments.”
Appeals to a sense of responsibility and self-regulation are not enough and profit interests would be put in doubt over social responsibility, said Lambrecht. In view of the market power and the social relevance of the large tech companies, this is unacceptable. It is therefore “important to put the reins on Facebook & Co. and tighten them tightly”.
Whistleblower calls for more transparency
At a hearing in the US Senate, the former Facebook manager and whistleblower Frances Haugen called on politicians to force the online network to be more transparent. Only the company knows how to personalize the users’ newsfeed. The 37-year-old worked for Facebook for around two years and previously worked for Google and the photo platform Pinterest. Her accusation that Facebook knew from internal studies that Instagram was damaging to the mental health of some teenagers – but did not take any action against it – caused particular outrage in the United States.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg had rejected the charge that the online network puts profits above the well-being of its users. Facebook recently came under pressure because an error in the network settings on Monday led to a six-hour downtime on Facebook and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram.
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