An Ignoble Experiment: Facebook could 'destroy me': Whistleblower wants Congress to 'change the rules'

By Liza Hearon

TOP STORIES

Tuesday, Oct. 5

WHISTLEBLOWER TO TESTIFY FACEBOOK PUTS 'PROFITS BEFORE PEOPLE' Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, will testify today before Congress that the company puts "profits before people" and that it should be regulated. In written testimony released ahead of the Senate subcommittee hearing, Haugen will say the tech giant's products "harm children, stoke division, weaken our democracy." "I believe what I did was right and necessary for the common good," Haugen's testimony says. "But I know Facebook has infinite resources, which it could use to destroy me." [HuffPost]

BIDEN LIFTS TRUMP-ERA ABORTION REFERRAL RESTRICTION The Biden administration reversed a ban on abortion referrals by family planning clinics, lifting a Trump-era restriction as political and legal battles over abortion grow sharper from Texas to the U.S. Supreme Court. The new regulation will restore the federal family planning program to the way it ran under the Obama administration, when clinics were able to refer women seeking abortions to a provider. [AP]

FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP SUFFER MASSIVE OUTAGE Facebook and its entire suite of apps suffered an outage Monday, completely preventing users from accessing the services for about six hours. The shutdown occurred right as Facebook's global head of safety was appearing live on CNBC to defend the company against a whistleblower's accusations. [HuffPost ]

AUTHORITIES RACE TO CONTAIN CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL Cleanup crews and environmental authorities are racing to contain the devastation linked to a large oil spill off the Southern California coastline. There are questions over why Amplify Energy didn't detect the leak and respond more quickly in the first few critical hours. [HuffPost]

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WHAT'S BREWING

BIDEN BLASTS 'HYPOCRITICAL' GOP OPPOSITION TO RAISING DEBT LIMIT President Joe Biden called out Republicans for refusing to allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling, even though they supported legislation that necessitated an increase in the first place. Asked if he can guarantee the U.S. won't breach the debt ceiling on Oct. 18, Biden said: "No, I can't. That's up to Mitch McConnell." [HuffPost ]

CAPITOL RIOTER IDENTIFIED BY ONLINE SLEUTHS PLEADS GUILTY Robert Scott Palmer, a Florida man who attacked cops with a fire extinguisher during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 and was identified by online sleuths, pleaded guilty to a felony and was ordered incarcerated until sentencing. Palmer entered his guilty plea before Judge Tanya Chutkan, who earlier expressed concern about letting Jan. 6 defendants off with a "slap on the wrist." [HuffPost]

CALIFORNIA GOV SIGNS LAW TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDBIRTH California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed new legislation meant to improve outcomes for birthing people and babies — and particularly for Black people, who face disproportionately high rates of complications and deaths in pregnancy, and during and after childbirth. He said the bill would provide "more data, more transparency, more accountability" to the issue of perinatal and infant mortality, particularly for families of color. [HuffPost]

TRUMP FACES DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONING IN DEFAMATION SUIT Former President Donald Trump now has a Dec. 23 deadline to undergo questioning in former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos' defamation lawsuit over what he said in denying her sexual assault allegations, a court said. [AP]

BRITNEY SPEARS THANKS #FREEBRITNEY MOVEMENT Britney Spears thanked the fans and social media movement that fought to end the pop star's conservatorship. "Because of you guys and your constant resilience in freeing me from my conservatorship. My life is now in that direction !!!!! I cried last night for two hours cause my fans are the best and I know it," she tweeted. [HuffPost]