Why the latest series of Facebook leaks is more politically potent

“YOU ARE a twenty-first century American hero,” Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, said on October 5th. He was not addressing the founder of one of the country’s largest companies, Facebook, but the woman who found fault with it. Frances Haugen, who previously worked at the social-media giant before becoming a whistleblower, testified in front of a Senate subcommittee for over three hours, highlighting Facebook’s “moral bankruptcy” and the firm’s downplaying of its harmful impact, including fanning teenage depression and ethnic violence.