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☆ US senators demand documents from Meta over its handling of teen mental health
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —A group of US senators is demanding that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hand over troves of emails and documents that could show how the company handled the knowledge that its platforms could harm the mental health of teens. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said that the company is in touch with the members who signed the letter. The letter further accuses Meta of showing an “apparent willful disregard” for young people’s well-being, of “misrepresentations to Congress” and of “profiting from threats” to user safety. The letter requests a response by Nov. 30 and calls for Meta to provide its correspondence related to Bejar’s warnings to executives, as well as senior leaders’ own correspondence with Zuckerberg about proposed investments in user well-being.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, ”, Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn, Dick Durbin, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham ; Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren, Missouri Republican Josh Hawley, Meta, Arturo Bejar, Andrea Joy Campbell, didn’t, Andy Stone, people’s, ’ Organizations: Washington CNN, Facebook, Connecticut Democrat, Tennessee Republican, South Carolina Republican, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham ; Massachusetts Democrat, Missouri Republican, Meta Locations: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Tennessee, Illinois, South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham ; Massachusetts, Missouri

☆ Meta ignored warnings on Instagram’s harm to teens, whistleblower says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington CNN —Meta’s top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, ignored warnings for years about harms to teens on its platforms such as Instagram, a company whistleblower told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. Meanwhile, both parties have united behind blaming Meta for contributing to a nationwide mental health crisis. Bejar’s research “is basically a smoking gun,” Haugen told CNN in an interview Tuesday. “Every day countless people inside and outside of Meta are working on how to help keep young people safe online,” said Meta spokesman Andy Stone in a statement. He said everyday Americans understand “the harm being done” and compared it to harms from smoking.

Persons: Washington CNN —, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Arturo Bejar, Bejar, Zuckerberg, Bejar’s, ” Bejar, Frances Haugen, Instagram, ” Haugen, “, Sheryl Sandberg, ”, Andy Stone, Stone, Connecticut Democratic Sen, Richard Blumenthal ., Josh Hawley, Tennessee Republican Sen, Marsha Blackburn, Adam Mosseri, Sandberg, Chris Cox, Mosseri, ” Blackburn, Louisiana Republican Sen, John Kennedy, we’re, ” Meta, Blumenthal, Cox, Haugen, Hawley, ” Blumenthal, ” CNN’s Samantha Kelly Organizations: Washington CNN, Washington CNN — Meta’s, Facebook, Wall, Meta, CNN, Connecticut Democratic, Big Tech, Tennessee Republican, Louisiana Republican, Wall Street, “ Big Tech, Tobacco Locations: Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal . Missouri, Instagram

It would also require the Labor Department to compile a list of companies ineligible for federal contracts based on "serious, repeated, or pervasive violations of child labor laws." The Labor Department said earlier this month that in the 2023 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2023, investigations had found close to 5,800 kids illegally employed in the U.S., an 88% increase from 2019. Another bipartisan Senate bill introduced on Thursday by Republican Marco Rubio from Florida, with Democrats Alex Padilla from California and John Hickenlooper from Colorado, and Republican Roger Marshall from Kansas, would require the Labor Department to report more details to lawmakers about the perpetrators and victims involved in child labor cases. A February 2022 Reuters story exposed child labor at Alabama chicken plants, revealing how unaccompanied Central American migrants in debt to human smugglers were working grueling factory shifts. Later, in November, the Labor Department filed a complaint against cleaning company Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) for employing dozens of kids cleaning meatpacking plants around the country, some of whom suffered chemical burns and other injuries.

Persons: Cory Booker, Kevin Lamarque, Josh Hawley, Republican Marco Rubio, Alex Padilla, John Hickenlooper, Republican Roger Marshall, Rubio, Dick Durbin, Mica Rosenberg, Joshua Schneyer, Kristina Cooke, Aurora Ellis, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Capitol, REUTERS, Democratic, Labor Department, U.S . Department of Agriculture, The Labor Department, Republican, Central, Packers Sanitation Services Inc, Hyundai, Kia, Reuters, Democratic Senators, Senate, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States, U.S, New Jersey, Missouri, Florida, California, Colorado, Kansas, Alabama, Korean, Mexico, Illinois, New York

Lawmakers are especially concerned about the use of AI to creates content that falsely depicts candidates in political advertisements to influence federal elections. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters a day after the AI forum that included technology leaders including Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) CEO Sundar Pichai that election AI legislation may need to move faster. "Some things may have to go sooner than others and elections is one of the things that we may have to try to do soonest," Schumer said on Thursday. Experts say the proliferation of AI tools could make it far easier to, for instance, conduct mass hacking campaigns or create fake profiles on social media to spread false information and propaganda. He said it will be "a real challenge" to get agreement on such legislation "on both sides."

Persons: Chuck Schumer, Mike Rounds, Todd Young, Julia Nikhinson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Schumer, Donald Trump, Amy Klobuchar, Josh Hawley, David Shepardson, Rick Cowan Organizations: Intelligence, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Democratic, Republican, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Washington

☆ Bipartisan U.S. bill would end Section 230 immunity for generative AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would allow social media companies to be sued for spreading harmful material created with artificial intelligence. The law would open the door for lawsuits to proceed against social media companies for claims based on emerging generative AI technology, including fabricated but strikingly realistic "deepfake" photos and videos of real people. It followed the defeat last month of two landmark cases at the Supreme Court that would have narrowed the scope of Section 230 immunity. "We can't make the same mistakes with generative AI as we did with Big Tech on Section 230," said Hawley, a Republican. A small set of narrow exceptions have been established for issues like copyright infringement and child sex trafficking, the latter via a bipartisan 2018 amendment called the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act.

Persons: Republican Josh Hawley, Richard Blumenthal, Hawley, Blumenthal, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Katie Paul, Chris Sanders, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Republican, Big Tech, Democrat, Republicans, Google, Facebook, Democratic, Communications, Thomson

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