2021, the year of lawsuits and fines for big tech companies

Facebook, the company that has come under the most scrutiny

2021 was one of the worst years for Facebook, because despite changing its name to Meta, it wasn’t enough to stop the controversy surrounding it. In September, the European Union fined WhatsApp $267 million for its lack of transparency about how it shares its users’ personal information with other apps of Facebook, the parent company.

But the controversy erupted a few weeks later, after leaks by former Facebook employee Francis Hogan of company documents, which provided an in-depth look at the company’s internal culture, as well as an eye-opening focus. for their concerns about misinformation, moderation of hate speech, and even low acceptance of the social network among younger audiences.

After the story was published, in both the US and EU Congress, lawmakers began debating how to regulate social media platforms, and even summoned some executives, such as Adam Mosseri, the leader of Instagram, to testify.

These actions were taken because, according to Hoggin, “CEOs know how to make Facebook and Instagram more secure, but they are not making changes because they are putting their massive benefits above people.”