Washington, D.C. — Mark Zuckerberg's testimony on Capitol Hill is just one part of the debate over whether companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are putting profits ahead of people.
A new report was released Tuesday, detailing eye-opening concerns with how those companies operate.
The report comes down hard on these companies, saying this isn't about hacks. But that they release this information intentionally, because it’s actually part of their business model.
From YouTube being accused of collecting and selling children's data to advertisers, to Facebook sharing user's personal information to a firm affiliated with Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Privacy advocate groups says digital platforms are doing major damage, especially here in Northeast Ohio. Those platforms are full of posts showing illegal or inappropriate content supported by ads.
“Cleveland is particularly vulnerable to those who want to manipulate online, because of its political position in this country. Ohio is often a kingmaker when it comes to politics, and therefore it will always be a target,” says Tom Galvin who runs the watchdog group, Digital Citizens Alliance.
It just released a report accusing companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter of failing to monitor or take responsibility for the content on their sites.
They say the reason is that it makes them billions of dollars a year.
And the only time take they take action is when there's advertiser backlash or government regulation.
In fact, a leaked memo from Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's President in 2016, says in part:
"Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools. Anything that allows us to connect more people more often is *de facto* good."
But the negative fallout of that content is exactly why Galvin says these groups really need to take responsibility for their sites.
"The core question, really, is whether these platforms are inherently trustworthy, because their business model is based on giving out the personal information of their users and that brings a lot of issues for people about distortion,” he said.
This week, Facebook is letting users know if they're part of the 87 million people whose information was shared with Cambridge Analytica. That's a data-mining firm associated with the Trump campaign.
Here are links that let you see if Cambridge Analytica is collecting your data and how to delete the apps: