From CTV News–Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who blew the whistle(opens in a new tab) on the tech company by accusing it of prioritizing profit over public safety, says Canada’s new online harms legislation(opens in a new tab) isn’t just good, it’s “one of the best bills that has been proposed today.”
In an interview with CTV News Channel’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos on Tuesday, Haugen said the new bill is a meaningful step toward holding tech companies accountable for neglecting user well-being, especially among children and teens.”We know the platforms know this is a problem but different platforms are taking different levels of effort to try to deal with this,” Haugen told Kapelos. “And that’s why we need laws like the Canadian online safety bill, to make sure Canadian researchers can ask questions (like) is the platform your kid is spending time on doing everything they can to keep that kid safe?”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on Monday tabled its long-awaited legislation with the aim of better protecting Canadians, and particularly youth, against online harms.