Facebook whistleblower set to testify before Senate subcommittee

A former Facebook Inc. employee-turned-whistleblower, who leaked internal documents regarding the potential harm of the company's platforms, is set to testify before U.S. legislators this week.

The leaked documents served as a centerpiece of a multi-part series by The Wall Street Journal that explored Facebook's tactics in attracting and retaining users to its platforms, as well as the company's apparent awareness that use of its Instagram LLC platform contributed to worsening mental health for some teens.

The Oct. 5 hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security is titled "Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower."

Facebook's head of global safety in a Sept. 30 hearing defended the company's practices and suggested some internal findings were taken out of context by the Journal's reporting. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the subcommittee's chair, compared the social media giant to Big Tobacco companies and their reluctance to acknowledge the health concerns of smoking.

Also Oct. 5, the Center for Democracy and Technology will hold a noon ET event that explores the impact of the Patriot Act, which bolstered the U.S. government's surveillance powers in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The event will feature a discussion on how government surveillance activities have changed over the last two decades and how much authority the government needs to keep the country safe while also preserving civil rights.

The Patriot Act increased the government's surveillance powers in a variety of ways, including allowing warrantless searches of certain types of records in some circumstances. While some of those powers have since expired, others remain on the books.

Among potential reforms, the Center for Democracy and Technology is advocating reform of Section 505 of the law to require the FBI to assert through documentation that a person whose records it is seeking is an agent of a foreign power or terrorist organization, said Sharon Bradford Franklin, co-director of the privacy organization's Security and Surveillance Project.

	Government
	Oct. 5	The Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. titled "Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower."
	Oct. 6	The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing titled "Enhancing Data Security" at 10 a.m. This hearing is the second in a series examining the growing urgency to protect consumer privacy and safeguard data, as well as the need to ensure the Federal Trade Commission is equipped with the authorities and resources to fight digital harms and hold bad actors accountable for increasing privacy violations, data breaches, internet scams, ransomware assaults and other harmful data abuses.
	Industry, legal and think tank events
	Oct. 5	Washington Post Live will host an online event titled "Securing Cyberspace" with Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
	Oct. 5	The Center for Democracy and Technology will host a virtual event at noon titled "The Patriot Act Turns 20: Taking Stock and Rethinking Surveillance Powers."
	Oct. 5-7	Access Intelligence will hold its CyberSatGov summit at the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Va.
	Oct. 6	The FCBA will host an event at noon that will focus on an examination of the Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and the tools it uses to investigate alleged violations of telecommunications regulations.
	Oct. 6-7	The Information will host its virtual Women in Tech, Media and Finance summit.

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