Frances Haughen: Why Big Tech Can’t Regulate Itself | Good Question

The power that big tech wields in our lives and the potential for it to do harm is front and center. Facebook's recent $17 billion settlement in the US is aimed at limiting some of those harms - at least to young people - and that settlement can be directly traced to Frances Haugen. She is the whistleblower who gave the world the evidence it needed and is also the subject of a new movie from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, The Social Reckoning. Host Amanda Lang speaks to her about misinformation, regulation and what Facebook has taught us about the future of AI. 00:00 Introducing Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen 02:33 The Social Reckoning: Bringing her story to the screen 05:17 Facebook’s role in January 6 08:26 Mark Zuckerberg and the cost of safety 10:26 Will Facebook’s settlement protect kids? 12:51 More lawsuits—and Meta’s bet on AI 15:47 Why AI leaders are asking for regulation 18:51 What happens when growth comes before safety 21:18 Can we actually slow down AI? 23:25 The risks of becoming a whistleblower 27:15 Did exposing Facebook change anything? 30:34 How to take back control of your social media 34:27 Can we reverse political polarization? 38:27 Could AI learn to care about humans? 40:06 An optimistic vision for AI’s future Follow GoodQuestion on Instagram- / https://www.instagram.com/goodquestionwithamandalang/ Follow Amanda on Facebook- / https://www.facebook.com/amanda.lang.5249 Follow Amanda on Substack- https://amandalang1.substack.com/ Listen to the podcast- https://pod.link/6807858730 KEYWORDS: Frances Haugen, Amanda Lang, Good Question with Amanda Lang, Facebook whistleblower, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin, Facebook Papers, social media safety, social media regulation, online child safety, Facebook algorithms, algorithmic accountability, misinformation, disinformation, January 6, political polarization, big tech accountability, tech whistleblowers, artificial intelligence, AI safety, AI regulation, AI ethics, Meta AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, social media addiction, digital wellbeing, democracy and technology