THREAD: The #EarnItAct is very simply about whether tech companies should be held responsible for their complicity in the sexual abuse & exploitation of children when they refuse to report or remove images of these crimes hosted on their platforms. 1/
The internet is infested with stomach-churning images of children who have been brutally assaulted & exploited, & who are haunted by a lifetime of pain after these photographs & videos are circulated online. 2/
Tech companies have long had ready access to low-cost, or even free tools to combat the scourge of child sexual abuse material, but have failed to act. 3/
Millions of these horrifying images go unidentified & unreported by the tech platforms that host them because there are so few consequences when these companies look the other way. That ends with the #EarnItAct. 4
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Thread: I'm disappointed & deeply concerned that Facebook appears to have concealed vital information about teen mental health & addiction on its platforms from me, other members of Congress, & the public. Congress needs to hear directly from Mark Zuckerberg. 1/
On October 5th, my subcommittee heard powerful testimony from former Facebook employee, @FrancesHaugen, whose revelations paint a powerful picture of a corporate titan that has failed to act to protect teens because it prioritized its financial bottom line over safety. 2/
Facebook’s response has been to resist scrutiny, not embrace transparency. It should be vigorously acting to provide parents with firm commitments for dramatic reforms & direct answers instead of casting baseless aspersions on whistleblowers & journalists. 3/
Thread: Thank you @FrancesHaugen for speaking to my subcommittee. I’m grateful for your courage & strength in standing up, speaking out, & sharing these bombshell documents. The evidence speaks volumes about how Facebook puts profits ahead of people. 1/
Facebook exploited teens using powerful algorithms that amplified their insecurities & dragged children into dark places. Facebook knows it’s doing harm to our kids' mental health & well-being, but they’ve continued using these tactics undeterred. 2/
It isn’t just that they use these practices, but they purposely fuel their bottom line with them. As Ms. Haugen so powerfully put it, Facebook maximizes profit & ignores pain. 3/
Like so many, I was deeply moved by Frances, who proved courageous, credible, & compelling on 60 Minutes. From her first visit with my office, I’ve admired her backbone & bravery in revealing terrible truths about one of the world’s most powerful, implacable corporate giants.
We now know about Facebook’s destructive harms to kids—harms that Facebook concealed & knowingly exploited to increase profits—because of documents Frances revealed.
Those documents show Facebook’s raw greed in dragging children to dark places & deepening insecurities, leading to online bullying, eating disorders, self-injury, even suicide.
Justice Alito’s recent speech at Notre Dame was deeply improper—& gravely mistaken on both law & facts. Count the ways. 1/ cnn.com/2021/09/30/pol…
Alito’s very specific, pointed diatribe on court orders went well beyond proper public comments by a sitting Justice. 2/
Alito’s analogy of the Shadow Docket to EMT emergency procedures is insultingly wrong—doctors don’t cut medical corners; nor should the Court cut legal corners. 3/
Thread: If trending can get more people interested in discussing Facebook’s heinous wrongs, let’s talk about it. This month a whistleblower approached my office to provide reports & documents about Facebook & Instagram. What they reveal is damning. 1/
We now know while Facebook publicly denies that Instagram is deeply harmful for teens, privately Facebook researchers/experts have been ringing the alarm. 2/
We now know that Facebook routinely puts profits ahead of kids’ online safety.
We know it chooses the growth of its products over the well-being of our children.
We now know it is indefensibly delinquent in acting to protect kids. 3/
THREAD: My staff & I have worked night & day to secure the safe passage of two planes waiting in Mazar-e Sharif to take American citizens, at-risk Afghan allies, & their families to safety. 1/6
My office joined forces in this humanitarian mission with an incredible coalition of advocates—NGOs, former servicemembers, & journalists—to try & evacuate our fellow citizens & Afghan allies. 2/6
I haven’t yet spoken publicly about these efforts because we worried that heightened attention would only escalate tensions & put these people at even greater risk of being targeted. 3/6