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Happy Tuesday! <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/13/latino-hispanic-american-spanish-accents">Accents matter</a>: It’s Arturo Béjar, not Arturo Bejar. (Yes, we asked.) Send news and linguistics tips to: <a href="mailto:cristiano.lima@washpost.com">cristiano.lima@washpost.com</a>. Below: Meta bars political advertisers from using generative AI tools, and disinfo researchers back away from studying the X platform. First:

Former Facebook staffer to speak out in hopes of jolting Congress

Ricky Carioti

When whistleblower Frances Haugen warned Congress at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/05/facebook-senate-hearing-frances-haugen/">an October 2021 hearing</a> that Facebook and Instagram were exposing children to harm, lawmakers expressed hope that the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-s-senate-testimony/8d324185-d725-4d99-9160-9ce9e13f58a3/">testimony</a> would hasten their efforts to pass fresh protections for kids online.&nbsp;

“I think the time has come for action, and I think you are the catalyst for that action,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/06/will-facebook-whistleblowers-testimony-awaken-congress-its-slumber/">told Haugen</a> during the blockbuster hearing.

That same day, another Facebook worker, Arturo Béjar, was privately sounding the alarm that the company was not taking the safety of its users, particularly teens, seriously enough.&nbsp;

Béjar, a former Facebook engineering director and consultant, will now get his own shot to move the needle on Capitol Hill, where he is poised to urge lawmakers in public testimony to seize what he called an “urgent” moment for children’s safety.

“There’s consensus across both parties about the importance of protecting American youth, and I'm hoping that the data that I have to offer, as well as my experience … will help highlight the urgency of passing that legislation,” Béjar told me and my colleague Naomi Nix in an interview.

Béjar, who first spoke out in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/instagram-facebook-teens-harassment-safety-5d991be1">Wall Street Journal report last week</a>, had warned Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and his top lieutenants on the day Haugen first testified about a “critical gap in how we as a company approach harm,” according to documents we reviewed.&nbsp;

Béjar cited internal survey data suggesting the company was underestimating how frequently users under 16 faced bullying, unwanted sexual advances or other negative encounters.&nbsp;

Andy Stone, a spokesman for Facebook parent company Meta, said the “user perception surveys” Béjar cited “highlight one part” of the company’s efforts “to help keep young people safe online.” They have led to the creation of features like “anonymous notifications of potentially hurtful content and comment warnings,” Stone said, adding, “All of this work continues.”

The former Facebook safety consultant is slated to offer Congress some concrete ideas for tackling the issue, including requiring tech leaders like Zuckerberg to report data to regulators about how often young people face negative encounters.&nbsp;

“If he also had to report the number of 13-to-15-year-olds that received unwanted sexual advances, I do believe that number will start going down pretty quickly,” Béjar said.&nbsp;

By giving lawmakers “access to all the data that I have,” Béjar hopes they will be able to “pass the legislation that they've been working on” relating to kids' safety.&nbsp;

Béjar said he was separately subpoenaed to testify before the Federal Trade Commission — which is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/03/ftc-meta-children-data-privacy/">seeking to curtail the tech giant’s privacy practices</a> — and has shared documents with state attorneys general <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/24/meta-lawsuit-facebook-instagram-children-mental-health/">who recently sued the company</a>.

Whether his efforts will bear fruit is another question.&nbsp;

Several months after Haugen’s testimony, a bipartisan group of senators <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/16/kids-online-safety-act-unveiled-blackburn-blumenthal/">unveiled</a> a bill to require tech platforms to “act in the best interests” of minors and take “reasonable” steps to prevent bullying, harassment and child exploitation.&nbsp;

But more than two years after the session, they have little more to show from the push.

The Kids Online Safety Act, led by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), advanced out of committee with bipartisan support both last Congress and earlier this year.&nbsp;

But the measure has never made it to the Senate floor, and its prospects have dimmed in the House, where it does not yet have a companion bill and the leaders of a key committee have opted to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/28/house-senate-collision-course-over-childrens-privacy/">focus instead on a broader privacy bill</a>.&nbsp;

“No parent or child can trust Facebook, or Meta, after this whistleblower’s powerful account, laying bare their denial and deception. Congress must act,” Blumenthal will say at the hearing Tuesday, according to prepared remarks shared with The Technology 202.&nbsp;

Meta to bar political advertisers from using generative AI ad tools

Chris J Ratcliffe/Pool

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta will prevent political advertisers from using its generative AI advertising products, a move that will bar campaigns from accessing a suite of tools that many fear could <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/03/artificial-intelligence-2024-election-misinformation-poll/7d85821a-7a00-11ee-97dd-7a173b1bd730_story.html">exacerbate</a> election misinformation, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-bar-political-advertisers-using-generative-ai-ads-tools-2023-11-06/">Reuters’s Katie Paul reports</a>, citing a company spokesperson.

"Meta publicly disclosed the decision in updates posted to its help center on Monday night, following publication of this story," Paul writes. “Its advertising standards prohibit ads with content that have been debunked by the company's fact-checking partners but do not have any rules specifically on AI.”

The decision comes a month after the social media giant <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-starts-rolling-out-generative-ai-tools-all-advertisers-2023-10-04/">rolled out</a> AI-driven ad tools that can create backgrounds and adjust images with text prompts. Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg has <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Generative-AI-should-be-open-and-democratized-Meta-chief">previously said</a> that AI-generated content in political advertising is “clearly an area where we need to update our rules.”

The company’s oversight board <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/10/fake-biden-video-shows-limits-meta-deepfake-policies/">announced last month</a> that it would review whether the social media giant erred when it left up a fake video of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">President Biden</a>, a case that will prompt the panel to take up the issue of doctored media for the first time. Clarification: Following the publication of the Reuters report, Meta amended its website to reflect the policy change.

Epic Games targets Google app store after losing case against Apple

Lionel Bonaventure

Fortnite maker Epic Games is alleging that Google violated federal competition laws by requiring app developers to direct customer payments through Google’s Play Store transaction systems, allowing the tech giant to take a significant cut of revenue, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/06/epic-google-antitrust-trial-play-store/">our colleague Eva Dou reports</a>.

A San Francisco jury on Monday began hearing testimony from Epic, which earlier this year was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/24/apple-epic-appeal-app-store/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2">unsuccessful</a> in getting a court to accept a similar argument that Apple held an illegal monopoly in its App Store.&nbsp;

A win for Epic could be favorable to Android app developers, but that outcome is far from assured because Epic has entered the trial alone after several other plaintiffs — including Match Group, the owner of dating apps Tinder and Hinge — dropped out after Google allowed their users to make payments through different channels, Eva writes.

The report adds: “Google contests the allegations from Epic, arguing that Google Play faces competition from the Apple App Store so it is not a monopoly and that requiring a cut of revenue from apps distributed through Google Play is a legitimate business practice.”

Disinfo researchers stepped back from studying Musk’s X after platform changes

Elizabeth Frantz

Researchers focused on social media disinformation have canceled, suspended or changed at least 100 studies on X, following actions that owner Elon Musk took to limit access to the platform formerly known as Twitter, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/elon-musks-x-restructuring-curtails-disinformation-research-spurs-legal-fears-2023-11-06/">Reuters’s Sheila Dang reports</a>, citing nearly a dozen interviews and a survey of planned projects.

Dang writes: “Musk's restrictions on critical methods of gathering data on the global platform have suppressed the ability to untangle the origin and spread of false information during real-time events such as Hamas' attack on Israel and the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, researchers told Reuters.”

One of the key tools was an application programming interface (API) that allowed researchers to access some 10 million tweets per month. But the platform told researchers in February that it would <a href="https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/twitter-api/getting-started/about-twitter-api">end free academic access</a> to the API, according to the report, which cites an email seen by the outlet.

The survey of 167 academic and civil society researchers also shows that a majority of respondents feared being sued by the platform for their findings or use of X’s data. That concern was reinforced this past summer when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/01/twitter-lawsuit-center-for-countering-digital-hate/">X sued a major research group</a> that studies hate speech online. Musk did not respond to Reuters’s request for comment, and an X representative declined to comment.

<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/eus-breton-tells-tiktok-ceo-ramp-up-efforts-against-disinformation-2023-11-06/" target="_blank">EU's Breton tells TikTok CEO to 'spare no effort' against disinformation (Reuters)</a>

<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-denies-loan-application-appeal-to-human-48d18d57?mod=tech_lead_pos1" target="_blank">When AI denies your loan application, should you be able to appeal to a human? (Wall Street Journal)</a>

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/technology/chatbots-hallucination-rates.html" target="_blank">Chatbots may ‘hallucinate’ more often than many realize (New York Times)</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/05/ai-deepfake-porn-teens-women-impact/" target="_blank">AI fake nudes are booming. It’s ruining real teens’ lives. (The Washington Post)</a>

<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/06/us-military-member-data-for-sale-00125345" target="_blank">How foreigners can buy data on U.S. military members, for the right price (Politico)</a>

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/06/openai-app-store-chat-gptstore/" target="_blank">OpenAI unveils ambitions to compete more directly with Big Tech (The Washington Post)</a>

<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/05/elon-musk-debuts-grok-ai-bot-to-rival-chatgpt-others-.html" target="_blank">Elon Musk debuts 'Grok' AI bot to rival ChatGPT, others (CNBC)</a>

Emma Llansó joined NTIA’s Office of Policy Analysis and Development this week. She previously worked at the Center for Democracy &amp; Technology.

Arturo Béjar <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/social-media-and-the-teen-mental-health-crisis">testifies</a> before the Senate Judiciary Committee about social media and teen mental health at 10 a.m.

Stanford University <a href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/events/facebook-and-instagram-2020-us-election">holds a discussion</a> on Facebook and Instagram’s impact on the 2020 U.S. election at 3 p.m.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee <a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/the-philosophy-of-ai-learning-from-history-shaping-our-future/">convenes a hearing</a> on AI philosophy and ethics on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

The House Oversight Committee <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/hearing/advances-in-deepfake-technology-2/">holds a hearing</a> on deepfake technologies on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

The Senate HELP Committee <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/avoiding-a-cautionary-tale-policy-considerations-for-artificial-intelligence-in-health-care">holds a hearing</a> on AI in health-care settings on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

That’s all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to&nbsp;<a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/60/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">The </a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/61/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">Technology</a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/62/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a"> </a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/63/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">202</a><a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dca/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/64/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a"> here</a>. Get in touch with tips, feedback or greetings on <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/34a2dcb/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a/60ff0f119bbc0f0fbe6fbd53/65/74/613f4bb19d2fda262757cd9a">Twitter</a> or <a href="mailto:cristiano.lima@washpost.com?utm_campaign=wp_the_technology_202&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_technology202">email</a>.&nbsp;

Lehigh University, BA in Political Science

Lehigh University, MA in Political Science

 Cristiano Lima-Strong is a tech policy reporter and author of The Washington Post's Technology 202 newsletter, focusing on the intersection of tech, politics and policy. His coverage focuses on privacy and children’s online safety. He previously served as a senior web producer, breaking news reporter and tech policy reporter for Politico.

Cristiano Lima-Strong

George Washington University, BBA in business analytics

Georgetown University, MS in business analytics

David DiMolfetta researches The Cybersecurity 202 and The Technology 202, the morning newsletters at The Washington Post keeping readers up to date on cybersecurity and technology policy.

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