(WASHINGTON) — A Senate subcommittee on Tuesday is hearing from a whistleblower who claims Facebook manipulated content it knew was harmful to young users, a day after the social media giant experienced an apparently unrelated massive outage.
Frances Haugen, who revealed her identity during a Sunday interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” has been cooperating with a Senate Commerce subcommittee as part of its ongoing efforts to assess potential regulations for the platform. Haugen is expected to tell lawmakers on Tuesday about evidence she reportedly has showing that the company intentionally ignored proof of its potentially harmful impact on users.
“Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they’ll click on less ads, they’ll make less money,” she told “60 Minutes.”
Facebook has publicly refuted Haugen’s claims.
Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:
Oct 05, 8:57 am
Whistleblower to testify before Senate panel
Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist turned whistleblower, is scheduled to testify before the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee at 10 a.m. on Facebook and Instagram’s impacts on young users in a hearing entitled, “Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower. “
Beyond alleging Facebook’s knowledge of its platforms’ negative impact on teenagers and young girls, Haugen has reportedly come forward with documents showing the social media giant has also ignored but is aware of how hate speech and misinformation are emphasized on their sites.
Haugen, who revealed her identity during a Sunday interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” has been cooperating with the offices of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., chair and ranking member of the Senate committee that is assessing potential regulations for the social media giant.
After going nearly a full year without composing a single tweet, Adele made her grand return to Twitter on the same day social media websites Facebook and Instagram went offline.
The “Hello” singer, whose last tweet on January 10 was a red heart emoji in response to the Chorley Football Club in England belting out her 2011 hit “Someone Like You,” broke her Twitter silence on Monday in a cheeky exchange with the social media giant.
Following Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp’s sudden but massive outage, Twitter joked in a tweet, “hello literally everyone.” However, no one apparently expected the Grammy winner to reply, with a playful, “Hiya babes!”
Making matters more humorous was the social media company’s shocked response to the singer’s unexpected interaction, tweeting back, “ahdfljhadsjdlash ADELE?!?!”
This exchange comes as rumors continue to swirl that the 33-year-old singer is planning to release her long-awaited fourth studio album, which many believe is to be named 30. As previously reported, Adele updated her social media accounts on Monday with a cryptic blurred teal-colored profile picture and banner. Fans have noticed a similarity to the cryptic “30” billboards that began popping up in different parts of the world last week — saying they are the same color.
Adele’s website also reflected the new changes, updating with the same teal background and a mysterious link urging fans to sign up for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Facebook whistleblower who unearthed documents she says shows the company had knowledge of its platforms’ negative impact will appear before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday.
Frances Haugen, who revealed her identity during a Sunday interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes has been cooperating with a Senate Commerce subcommittee as part of its ongoing efforts to assess potential regulations for the social media giant.
Documents obtained by Haugen, a former product manager at Facebook, led to a series from the Wall Street Journal that reported that Facebook commissioned studies about and knew of potential harm that it was causing from negative or inflammatory content and did not act to stop it. Among the findings cited in the report were that Instagram made body image issues worse for one in three teens.
ABC News has not independently reviewed these documents, but Haugen is expected to tell the Senate subcommittee about the evidence she reportedly has that she says shows that the company intentionally ignored evidence of its potentially harmful impact.
“There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” Haugen alleged on 60 Minutes on Sunday. “And Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests like making more money.”
Facebook has publicly refuted Haugen’s claims, pointing to investments in security that the company has made in recent years.
“Every day our teams have to balance protecting the ability of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place,” Lena Pietsch, the director of policy communications for Facebook, said in a statement Sunday. “To suggest we encourage bad content or do nothing is just not true.”
Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, said in a CNN interview on Sunday those making accusations that the company is commissioning research to “deliberately” brush it aside have it “back to front.”
“If we didn’t want to address those questions, we wouldn’t commission the research in the first place,” Clegg said.
Haugen’s career has included stops at Google, Pinterest and other social media companies, but she claimed what she saw at Facebook was “substantially worse.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chairs the Senate Commerce subcommittee on Consumer Protections, Product Safety and Data Security, said in a tweet that he’s been speaking with Haugen in the lead-up to her testimony.
“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,” Blumenthal said in a tweet. “Facebook’s actions make clear that we cannot trust it to police itself. We must consider stronger oversight, effective protections for children, & tools for parents, among the needed reforms.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the top Republican on the Senate subcommittee that will hear from Haugen, said it has been “fascinating” to comb over documents that Haugen provided the committee.
“What we want to know is how much data is Facebook capturing and what are they doing with that data, how long do they keep it, are they sharing with third parties, are they getting permission when they are datamining these children,” Blackburn said on Fox Business on Monday.
It is not clear how much information Haugen has shared with the committee in advance of her testimony, but during her interview Sunday, Haugen said she took thousands of pages of documents from Facebook so that “no one can question that this is real.”
Haugen also alleged on CBS that Facebook decided to ease safeguards put in place to stop the spread of disinformation during the 2020 election season, which she says contributed to the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
In an internal memo obtained by the New York Times, Clegg refuted that allegation as well.
“Social media has had a big impact on society in recent years, and Facebook is often a place where much of this debate plays out,” Clegg wrote. “But what evidence there is simply does not support the idea that Facebook, or social media more generally, is the primary cause of polarization.”
Haugen’s appearance before the committee Tuesday comes as part of an ongoing effort by Congress to assess how to regulate massive social media companies such as Facebook.
Last week, in a hearing before the same subcommittee that Haugen will appear before, lawmakers accused Facebook of taking a page from “big tobacco’s playbook” by hiding research about what they consider to be its addictive and harmful nature.
Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, faced bipartisan scrutiny as she defended the company during the hearing that lasted some three hours.
“We understand that recent reporting has raised a lot of questions about our internal research, including research we do to better understand young people’s experiences on Instagram,” Davis stated in written testimony. “We strongly disagree with how this reporting characterized our work, so we want to be clear about what that research shows, and what it does not show.”
His Pete “Maverick” Mitchell may have bested Russian fliers in Top Gun, but the Russians have beaten Tom Cruise to space.
Cruise was gearing up to with work with NASA and SpaceX genius Elon Musk for what would have been the first narrative feature film actually shot in space.
However, as you read this, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, along with star Yulia Peresild and her director Kim Shipenko, have likely already docked their Soyuz capsule with the International Space Station on a mission to shoot a movie there. The feature, The Challenge, is about a mission to send a doctor into space to save the life of a cosmonaut.
Cruise can still take comfort in the fact that he’ll be the first narrative Hollywood film to shoot in space, however. The hush-hush project was endorsed by former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstein, who said last year that such an effort could “inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA’s ambitious plans a reality.”
Incidentally, ABC News is reporting that the capsule that brought the Russian crew to the ISS was originally scheduled to take NASA astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei and cosmonaut Peter Dubrov back to Earth later this month. The movie mission will delay Vande Hei‘s return until next March, which means when he returns he’ll have broken astronaut Scott Kelly‘s spaceflight record by eleven days.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 703,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 65.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 05, 8:50 am
J&J submits booster request to FDA
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday submitted its request to the FDA for a booster shot for J&J recipients.
The submission includes data showing that a booster increased protection to 94% against moderate to severe/critical disease in the U.S. (Peak efficacy from one shot is 72% in the U.S.)
The FDA’s independent advisory committee is holding a public hearing on J&J boosters on Oct. 15. The FDA may authorize J&J boosters after Oct. 15 and the CDC’s recommendation could follow.
Oct 05, 8:15 am
Francis Collins to step down as director of the National Institutes of Health
NIH Director Francis Collins announced that he’s stepping down, saying in a statement that no person should serve for too long and it’s time to give space for the next generation of scientists to lead.
He was in the role for 12 years.
Oct 04, 7:56 pm
Pentagon mandates vaccines for civilian employees
The Pentagon announced Monday that all of its civilian employees must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22.
“Vaccinating (department) civilian employees against COVID-19 will save lives and allow for the defense of our nation,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a memo sent out to Pentagon leadership Monday. “Thank you for your focus on this critical mission.”
There is already a vaccine mandate for military members, but each branch of service has its own deadline.
Oct 04, 6:02 pm
Newly approved rapid test will double US capacity, FDA says
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new rapid test Monday that it said will double the at-home testing capacity in the U.S. over the next few weeks.
The the ACON Laboratories Flowflex COVID-19 Home Test will ideally assuage the shortage of over-the-counter, at-home rapid testing that has gone on since schools and other businesses have returned to in-person work.
“By year’s end, the manufacturer plans to produce more than 100 million tests per month, and this number will rise to 200 million per month by February 2022,” the FDA said in a press release Monday.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) David Letterman and others paid tribute to Alan Kalter, the former Late Show announcer who died Monday at age 78.
“When our announcer of 15 years Bill Wendell retired, producer Robert Morton came to my office with an audio tape containing auditions for several announcers,” Letterman told the New York Daily News via email. “Alan’s was the first and only voice we listened to. We knew he would be our choice.”
In addition to being the show’s announcer, Kalter was the star of numerous madcap sketches on the show, which included fake tirades against his talk show host boss.
Former How I Met Your Mother co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were writers on Late Show, and were among those who penned sketches featuring the flame-haired announcer. Bays tweeted, “Alan Kalter RIP,” adding, “To us Late Show writers Alan was so much more than just the ‘From New York…’ guy. He was our muse. We loved writing for him. Such a cheerful presence on the show. And around the office. Rest easy Big Red.”
Thomas noted, “Oh man, @CarterBays and I loved writing for Alan — some of my fondest memories of Late Show are the absolutely batsh**-bonkers bits we wrote for Alan, who was always game to let us make him look insane…rest in peace, Alan, and thanks for the laughs…”
Bill Scheft, another Late Show alum, posted one of Kalter’s bits, adding, “RIP Alan Kalter. A lovely man, and as my old boss might say, a ‘perfect stooge….’
Kalter died Monday at Connecticut’s Stamford Hospital, his wife Peggy told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death was given.
Alan Kalter RIP. Between him and Tony Mendez it’s a heartbreaking time. To us Late Show writers Alan was so much more than just the “From New York…” guy. He was our muse. We loved writing for him. Such a cheerful presence on the show. And around the office. Rest easy Big Red. pic.twitter.com/xjPY906VlJ
Oh man, @CarterBays and I loved writing for Alan — some of my fondest memories of Late Show are the absolutely batshit-bonkers bits we wrote for Alan, who was always game to let us make him look insane…rest in peace, Alan, and thanks for the laughs…https://t.co/5RUfMGmryS
Dancing with the Stars fans were left begging “Gimme More” on Monday, when the night saluted Britney Spears‘ illustrious career. While the competitors were not “Intimidated” by having to push themselves on the ballroom floor, Christine Chiu‘s dreams of winning the Mirrorball Trophy broke like “Shattered Glass.”
For the second week in a row, the audience voted Chiu into the bottom two, where the judges had to choose between saving her or Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kenya Moore. The panel chose to spare the latter.
Also on Monday night, three members of the DWTS cast were absent on the ballroom floor — pro dancer Cheryl Burke, Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby and judge Derek Hough. Burke and Rigsby both tested positive for COVID-19 last week, despite being fully vaccinated, and Hough sat out the night out of “an abundance of caution,” as announced by host Tyra Banks.
Despite being unable to perform before the audience, Rigsby and Burke were beamed in virtually and performed their jazz routine to Britney’s “Gimme More” on split screens. Unfortunately, the two ended the night at the bottom of the pack with an overall score of 18 out of 30 — but the audience decided to give the two another chance and sent them through to next week’s show.
Meanwhile, three competitors tied for first place on Monday, a season first, with Amanda Kloots, JoJo Siwa and Olivia Jade collecting three straight eights for an overall score of 24 out of 30.
Kloots dazzled with her cha cha to Spears’ “Circus,” but judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli all agreed that the Talk co-host needed to take more risks on the floor. While the judges praised Kloots for her technical skills, saying she delivered a clean and solid routine, they felt her dance was too safe.
As for Siwa, the Nickelodeon star wowed the audience by lifting partner Jenna Johnson three separate times during their fresh and powerful Argentine tango to Britney’s “Baby One More Time.” The complicated routine earned high praise from the three judges, but Siwa was held back by a missed step in the middle of her dance.
As for birthday girl Olivia Jade, who just turned 22, the three judges lauded the influencer’s flowing tango to “Hold It Against Me,” dubbing it the “best performance of the night.”
The judges also took note of two competitors who pushed themselves on the ballroom floor, praising Bachelor star MattJames and WWE star Michael “The Miz” Gregory for coming out of their shells and paying attention to the finer details of their routines.
Another standout was country singer Jimmie Allen, who dedicated his salsa to Britney’s “Outrageous” to wife Alexis Gale. Allen also joked that he “did not plan to cry on this show two weeks in a row” by talking about the powerful women who made a difference in his life.
Dancing with the Stars returns Monday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, when the cast and crew will celebrate all things Disney. Also, as an added twist, Mickey Mouse himself crashed Monday’s broadcast to show the competitors the special “Mickey Moves” they must include in their routine, no matter what dance they are supposed to perform.
Here are the current standings:
Amanda Kloots, The Talk co-host, with Alan Bersten — 24/30
JoJo Siwa, Nickelodeon star, with Jenna Johnson — 24/30
Olivia Jade, influencer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 24/30 Melora Hardin,The Office actress, with Artem Chivensky — 23/30
Michael “The Miz” Gregory, WWE superstar, Witney Carson — 22/30 Melanie C,Spice Girl, with Gleb Savchenko — 22/30 Suni Lee, Olympic Gold medalist, with Sasha Farber — 21/30
Kenya Moore, former Miss USA, with Brandon Armstrong — 21/30 Matt James, former Bachelor, with Lindsey Arnold — 20/30
Jimmie Allen, country music singer, with Emma Slater — 20/30 Brian Austin Green, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, with Sharna Burgess — 19/30 Iman Shumpert, NBA player, with Daniella Karagach — 19/30
Cody Rigsby, Peloton instructor, with Cheryl Burke — 18/30
(NORTH PORT, Fla.) — Cassie Laundrie said she has a message for her missing brother, who has been the center of a nationwide manhunt after the body of his girlfriend, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, was found in Wyoming last month.
“I would tell my brother to just come forward and get us out of this horrible mess,” Cassie Laundrie told ABC News in an interview that aired Tuesday on Good Morning America.
Brian Laundrie, 23, and Petito, 22, were traveling across the country this summer in Petito’s white 2012 Ford Transit and were documenting their road trip on social media. On Sept. 1, Brian Laundrie returned to his parent’s home in North Port, Florida, by himself in Petito’s van, according to authorities. Petito was reported missing on Sept. 11 by her family in Long Island, New York, authorities said.
Cassie Laundrie, who lives in Florida with her husband and two sons, told ABC News that her brother and parents stopped by for an “ordinary” visit the day he returned.
“I really wish he had come to me first that day with the van,” she said, “because I don’t think we’d be here.”
Brian Laundrie was subsequently named a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. He has refused to speak to investigators and has not been seen since Sept. 14, authorities said.
On Sept. 16, the Moab City Police Department in Utah released body-camera footage of their officers’ interaction with Brian Laundrie and Petito after pulling them over in Petito’s van on Aug. 12. The officers were responding to a 911 call that reported an incident between the couple, in which the caller claimed he witnessed Laundrie allegedly “slapping” Petito and chasing her up and down a sidewalk, hitting her.
The officers wrote in a report that Laundrie and Petito admitted to arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie. The couple also told the officers that Laundrie did not hit Petito, according to the report.
After speaking to Petito and Laundrie separately, the officers allowed the couple to continue on their way but ordered them to spend the night apart. No charges were filed.
Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that it was “pretty typical of them to argue and try and take space from each other.” But she said she never witnessed any signs of domestic violence.
On Sept. 19, the Teton County Coroner’s Office in Wyoming announced that a body was recovered in the Bridger-Teton National Park. Two days later, the coroner confirmed the remains were that of Petito and that an initial determination showed she had died as a result of homicide. A federal arrest warrant was later issued for Brian Laundrie in Wyoming, pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment related to his “activities” following Petito’s death, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The twist and turns of the case have grabbed national attention, as the search for Brian Laundrie continues.
Cassie Laundrie told ABC News that she does not know where her brother is and if she did, she would “turn him in.” She said the last time she saw or heard from him was on Sept. 6, when their family went to Fort De Soto Park in Florida’s Pinellas County.
“We just went for a couple of hours and we ate dinner and had s’mores around the campfire and left, and there was nothing peculiar about it,” she said. “There was no feeling of grand goodbye. There was no nothing.”
“I’m frustrated that, in hindsight, I didn’t pick up on anything,” she added. “It was jut a regular visit.”
She said it’s unusual for her brother to disappear for this long.
“I hope he’s OK, and then I’m angry and I don’t know what to think,” she said. “I hope my brother is alive because I want answers just as much as everybody else.”
She said she has been cooperating with authorities “since day one,” and she called on her parents to do the same.
“I don’t know if my parents are involved,” she said. “I think if they are, then they should come clean.”
While she remains concerned for her brother, Cassie Laundrie said she is also mourning for Petito and wants the Petito family to know that her heart is with them.
A month after renaming its fine arts college after Chadwick Boseman, Howard University on Monday announced the launch of a $5.4 million scholarship in the name of one of its most famous alumni.
The Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship, established with the support of Boseman’s wife, Simone Ledward-Boseman, and sponsorship from Netflix as the inaugural donor, kicks off this fall with one recipient in each class. The scholarship will continue to be distributed to an incoming freshman each year.
The scholarship will focus on “students who exemplify exceptional skills in the arts, reminiscent of Boseman, and who demonstrate financial need,” according to the university.
“This scholarship embodies Chadwick’s love for Howard, his passion for storytelling and his willingness to support future generations of Howard students,” Howard president Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a statement. “I am thankful for the continuous support and partnership of Chadwick’s wife, Mrs. Simone Ledward-Boseman, and to Netflix for this important gift.”
Boseman, who died in August 2020 at age 43 after a private four-year battle with colon cancer, studied directing and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2000. His film credits include Black Panther, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods, Marshall, Get On Up and 42.
(OAKWOOD, Texas) — As voters across Texas submitted voter registration applications on Monday, Oct. 4, ahead of the Nov. 2 statewide election, 82-year-old Elmira Hicks was left out.
The Oakwood, Texas, native hasn’t been able to renew her voting license for more than a year because she has been unable to present the required birth certificate needed to verify her identity.
In the Lone Star State, election laws require voters to present a driver’s license, passport, military identification card, citizenship certificate, state election identification certificate or a personal identification card to cast a ballot or register to vote.
Hicks does not have a passport and without her driver’s license or the other approved documents, she said she will face obstacles that will make it difficult for her to participate in state and federal elections as a rural resident with limited transportation.
“My ability to get a license is completely impossible. They’ve completely shut me down,” Hicks told ABC News. “I can’t vote without proper identification. My voice does not count. It’s very important. People have died just to vote, people have stood in line, in the rain, women fought to vote and now I can’t vote,” Hicks added.
Like many Black elders in the South, Hicks was born with the help of a midwife, at a time when records weren’t kept. She never had a birth certificate. Her daughter, Jonita White, has helped her apply for one. The pair battled in court over the issue. A judge even ruled in their favor. Still, they said the Office of Vital Statistics has rejected Hicks on a technicality.
“I do feel like the laws right now are targeting my mother and other African Americans in this country,” White said.
Eight constitutional amendments ranging from taxes to judicial eligibility will be up for a vote on Nov. 2, an election Hicks will not be able to participate in.
Advocates warn that potentially thousands of predominantly minority voters could be disenfranchised due to voter identification requirements, which could have a large implications during next year’s midterm elections for state and congressional races.
“It’s often very common for people of a certain age not to have a birth certificate. I want to emphasize it’s not as uncommon as people might believe,” said Franita Tolson, the vice dean for faculty and academic affairs and a professor of law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
“In this country, race correlates to a lot of different characteristics. So, for example, if you take voter identification laws … people of color, so African Americans, Latinos, will be less likely to have the underlying documents that you need in order to get the ID in the first place in order to get a driver’s license,” Tolson continued.
Texas recently passed the Election Integrity Protection Act, one of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. It bans drive-thru voting, enlists new regulations for early voting and enacts new ID requirements for mail-in voting.
While Tolson does not believe all voter identification requirements are discriminatory, she called Texas’ voter ID measures “racist” during a Congressional Subcommittee hearing, because she believes they disproportionately impact voters of color.
“Texas has a very restrictive voter ID law,” Tolson said. “If you read it, it doesn’t seem racist on its face, but if you think about how it operates in practice, as well as the intent behind it, it is fairly racist. For example, Texas’ law only allows voters to have a certain limited amount of IDs. You have to have a driver’s license, you can have a hand handgun license, you can have a military ID, but you can’t have a federal ID, or you can’t have a student ID, which are the types of IDs that people of color are more likely to have.”
Rep. Steve Toth R-Texas, vehemently disagreed with Tolson’s claim that the state’s election laws are discriminatory, telling ABC News that the latest legislation makes it easier for people to vote and harder to commit fraud.
“We expanded the number of hours for people to vote, we expanded the number of days so people could vote. We added criminal penalties to people that want to shut voting locations down early or open late. We made sure that employers had to allow people to leave early to vote,” Toth said, calling Tolson’s charge offensive.
Nationally, there is bipartisan support for voter identification requirements among the majority of Americans, and 62% of Democrats support photo ID requirements, along with 87% of Independents and 91% of Republicans, according to a Monmouth poll.
Toth told ABC News that voters like Hicks have recourse.
“If they can’t get a driver’s license, go to DPS {Department of Public Safety], with a social security card, or some other ID, and to get an ID [election identification card] so that you can vote. It’s free,” Toth said, acknowledging that most people vote using their driver’s license.
White said obtaining an election identification is not so easy for an 82-year-old woman who lives in a rural area without the convenient ability to drive herself to the Department of Public Safety.
“My challenge is it’s taking so long to get this done,” White said. “And to send my mother through all of these hoops at this age to go get documents notarized, to go get her Social Security application, We’re having to look for high school records and baptism information…To send her through such a process, it is really is ridiculous.”
