Whistleblower testimony and a massive outage. So what's different for Facebook now?

<p>Armed with tens of thousands of documents, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress this week, warning lawmakers that the company has repeatedly misled the public about how its platforms drive division and harm users, especially children.</p><p>Earlier in the week, Facebook saw one of the worst outages in its history, lasting six hours and affecting over three billion people worldwide.</p><p>We know Facebook and Instagram have harmful effects and we know we're probably a bit too dependent on the platforms.</p><p>So what feels different about this moment?</p><p>Breaking news reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/itsgabbymiranda?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gabriela Miranda</a>, tech reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSnider?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mike Snider</a> and politics reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/mrbrownsir?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matthew Brown</a> sit down with host Claire Thornton to dissect Frances Haugen's Congressional testimony, explain what we know about Facebook's 'amplification' algorithm and discuss how everyday people had their lives upended by Facebook's massive outage last Monday.</p><p>Additional reading:</p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/10/07/facebook-whatsapp-outage-torture-families-emergency/6008191001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">'Five hours of silence was torture': Facebook and WhatsApp are lifelines for some families</a></p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/06/facebook-whistleblower-mark-zuckerberg-congress-legislation-reform/6017553001/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook whistleblower fires up Congress: Is this Mark Zuckerberg's moment of reckoning?</a></p><p><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/10/05/facebook-whistleblower-live-updates-frances-haugen-speaks-congress/6001