Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, saying that he has "has lost all trust" after a former Facebook employee testified before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday.
While appearing on CNN's New Day, Blumenthal spoke about the recent testimony by Frances Haugen, a former employee of the social media giant, who accused Facebook of failing to stop misinformation and creating products that "harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy."
"The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people," Haugen said during the testimony.
When asked about Haugen's testimony, Blumenthal told CNN's New Day that "we can't count on Mark Zuckerberg to tell us the truth."
"He has lost all trust if he ever had any," Blumenthal said.
During his interview with New Day, Blumenthal also called on more Facebook employees to come forward with similar information about the social media company.
"[Zuckerberg] ought to spend more time looking at the platform as many of his own staff well know," Blumenthal said. "And I'm hoping there are other whistleblowers out there and more documents."
During the testimony on Tuesday, Haugen also accused Facebook of "choosing to grow at all costs," and not being able to curb misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
After the testimony, Facebook spokeswoman Lena Pietsch issued a statement where she said in part, "We don't agree with her characterization of the many issues she testified about."
The statement continued, "Despite all this, we agree on one thing: it's time to begin to create standard rules for the internet. It's been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act."
Zuckerberg also responded to the testimony in a Facebook post where he said that many of Haugen's claims "don't make any sense."
"At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That's just not true," Zuckerberg said in the post. "The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical. We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content."
While appearing on CNN's New Day on Wednesday, Blumenthal also said that he plans to invite Zuckerberg to testify in front of Congress following the testimony by Haugen.
"We're gonna invite him. Ask him to come. I can't tell you whether he will accept," Blumenthal said. "But I think Mark Zuckerberg has an obligation to tell the American people himself."
Newsweek reached out to Facebook for further comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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