Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media
Online Disinformation and Media Literacy: Ms Frances Haugen
Ms Frances Haugen:
We need to make sure that we are not only focusing on illegal content but also focusing on harmful content. Things like disinformation are not illegal. The contact that drives young adults, in particular young women, to eating disorders is not illegal. Things that make people depressed or estranged from their communities are not illegal. We need to think holistically about the harms of these systems and require them to be disclosed to the public. If we only focus on things like terrorism content and things that are grossly criminal, we will not be able to hold these companies to account for the costs of the pollution they are imposing on society.
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