As soon as Frances Haugen landed in Europe, she was given the VIP treatment. She met senior officials in Paris, Berlin and London. She testified to lawmakers in Brussels. She rubbed shoulders with celebrities in Lisbon.
She hasn't done it alone.
As the former Facebook data scientist prepares to return to Puerto Rico, her sun-drenched home since leaving the tech giant, a well-funded lobbying operation — run by a former aide to Hillary Clinton — has opened doors across the European Union, aiding Haugen's mission to persuade the bloc's lawmakers to pass sweeping legislation to crack down on social media.
The professional whistleblower tour has proven successful. European lawmakers have applauded her at multiple hearings, and she has met with the likes of Christine Lambrecht, Germany's federal justice minister, British Home Secretary Priti Patel, and, on Thursday, Cédric O, France's digital minister.
Those eager for the EU's upcoming content rules to go further in curtailing the likes of Facebook have latched onto her insider knowledge, urging for even more changes, including limits on how digital ads can target people online.
But Haugen's relationship with Reset, an anti-tech lobbying shop with operations across the EU, U.K., U.S. and Australia, also raises concerns about who is driving her push to rewrite Europe's online content rules — proposals that will likely steer the global debate over how social media giants should be held more responsible for users' online actions.
...Iran Parliament's speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Friday sharply criticised US President Donald Trump, accusing him of making false claims about the ongoing standoff between Washington and Teh...