Amplification Algorithms News Today

im anderson cooper. you may have heard the u.s. surgeon general issued a warning that social media carries what he called a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescence. its something all of us who are parents are worried about. because of a law passed in the mid-1990s, social media companies are shielded from almost all responsibility for the content their users post, no matter how untrue or harmful it may be. but now with billions of people on...

human behind the humor. thanks for joining us for "the whole story." im anderson cooper. you may have heard the u.s. surgeon general issued a warning that social media carries what he called a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescence. its something all of us who are parents are worried about. because of a law passed in the mid-1990s, social media companies are shielded from almost all responsibility for the content their users post, no mat...

Children on instagram. >> reporter: she said the company allows the harmful content to continue because it values engagement time, which means money, over safety. and she gave congress these documents that show that meta new social comparison or determining ones worth by comparing oneself to others is a problem on instagram and that the app makes one in five teens feel worse about themselves. haugen also testified that the company knows that the nine searches connected to those issues can quickl...

Amplification algorithms, things like engagement-based ranking on instagram, can lead children all the way from just something innocent like healthy recipes to anorexia promoting content over a very short period of time. >> reporter: in a statement at the time, ceo mark zuckerberg said haugens testimony painted a false picture of the company and that the idea that the company would deliberately push upsetting content for project is deeply illogical. he wrote that its very important to him that e...

Companies, how to fix themselves so they dont have a bad effect on society even while they bring us the benefits they can bring? it is society even while they bring us the benefits they can bring?— benefits they can bring? it is all ve well benefits they can bring? it is all very well learning _ benefits they can bring? it is all very well learning about - benefits they can bring? it is all very well learning about the - very well learning about the inner workings and failings and the criticis...

>> facebook knows that its amplification algorithms, things like engagement-based ranking on instagram, can lead children from very innocuous topics like healthy recipes. i think all of us could eat a little more healthy. um, all the way from just something innocent like healthy recipes to anorexia-promoting content over a very short period of time. >> todays hearing focused heavily on facebook and instagrams impact on kids. it also dealt with facebooks real in amplifying election lies, politica...

♪ ♪ >> tucker: ever noticed how when a whistle-blower comes forward to tell the truth about something or other, the truth is always pretty much what you always knew, or at least suspected, it is just confirming what is obvious? today a whistle-blower from facebook testified that the company is fully aware that its products hurt children. here is part of she said. >> has facebook ever offered features that it knew had a negative effect on children and teens mental health? >> facebook knows it...

Right? i -- i know that the more time i spend on this, the worse i feel. but like, i just cant -- like, that they want the next click. they want the next like. >> and in general, so do instagram and facebook because that increases engagement which, in turn, helps advertising revenue. that much is a simple fact about the way that social networks operate. the fundamental question is does facebook build their algorithm knowing it harms certain users? frances haugen says the answers very simply yes....

♪ ♪ >> tucker: ever noticed how when a whistle-blower comes forward to tell the truth about something or other, the truth is always pretty much what you always knew, or at least suspected? it is just confirming what is obvious? today, a whistle-blower from facebook testified that the company is fully aware that its products hurt children. here is part of she said. >> has facebook ever offered features that it knew had a negative effect on children and teens mental health? >> facebook knows i...

Us live from capitol hill. so i mean, she just put to words what many people have been fearing for years about the algorithm of facebook, that it does much more harm than good, so where are we and what can lawmakers actually do? >> reporter: well, lawmakers can legislate to regulate and theres certainly a lot of indication from senators on both sides of the aisle who were at that hearing today that they would be willing to do that, that this seems like a bipartisan issue, and a lot of it is due ...