USA: Frances Haugen leaves Facebook in 2021 as product manager, bringing with her a cache of internal documents showing allegations of wrongdoing at the company.

However, Haugen claims that a year later, despite congressional hearings and investigations, META has made few meaningful changes to its policies, and the stakes are high as the US midterm election approaches.

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"I am very concerned about the upcoming election, and I am even more concerned about future elections," Haugen told the Guardian. “Without transparency and monitoring, we should expect Facebook to spend insufficiently on security – they will not produce the level of security we deserve.”

Frustrated by the lack of action, Haugen is one of dozens of former government officials, independent researchers and public health advocates who have joined a new bipartisan coalition to force fundamental change on the world's leading tech platforms.

The Council for Responsible Social Media (CRSM), which was set up on Thursday, aims to advocate for a "bilateral solution" and serve as "a key mechanism" in holding these companies accountable.

“The council is attempting to assemble a bipartisan, diverse group of people to emphasize that these are not partisan issues,” Haugen told the Guardian. "These are common sense solutions that can make a significant difference, and we must act quickly."

CRSM, which was established in collaboration with political reform group Issue One, will advocate for change in three key areas: children, communities and national security.

Former Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, former members of Congress Claire McCaskill and Dick Geffard, and former National Security Agency director Michael Rogers are also members of CRSM.

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"Social media has changed the world as we know it by defining almost every aspect of our social fabric." "We can now clearly see that the companies running these platforms have failed to be responsible managers of our political, social and communications sectors," Geffard said.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans believe that large tech firms hold a lot of power and influence in the economy, and 56% believe they should be more regulated than they are now. Congress has failed to pass effective legislation for years, despite widespread bipartisan support for the action.
The new council will advocate for reforms to increase transparency and oversight of these companies, according to Hogen, who said the regulation has many "low-hanging fruits" that could soon be passed.

The Platform Accountability and Transparency Act, proposed in 2021, would require social media companies to comply with researcher data requests for external audits. Failure to do so, in accordance with the proposed law, may result in loss of legal protection for the hosted content.

Haugen also referred to the Kids Online Safety Act, 2022, a bill that would increase security measures and transparency for minors who use social media.
"There are huge opportunities today in terms of moving forward in a bipartisan manner that weren't on the table a year ago," she said. "All they need is one push over the finish line."

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According to Haugen, these security measures are becoming increasingly important as technology companies expand their reach. About a year ago, Facebook's parent company, Meta, officially changed its name, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing a new focus on building a digital world called the Metaverse.

"It's unbelievable that we're going to see Mark Zuckerberg define a vital piece of social public infrastructure for a second time without any accountability or transparency," she said. "He has not earned the privilege of acting with such impunity."