Big Tech’s reckoning

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( Imagine a world without Facebook. For about six hours yesterday, that became a reality for the 2.75 billion people who rely on the social media giant to communicate, do business and consume news. The outage, which Facebook [blamed]( on a network configuration problem, was a [boon]( to rivals of its instant messenger service WhatsApp, such as Signal and Telegram. Its photo-sharing app, Instagram, went dark too. Today a former employee turned whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, is expected to [testify]( in the Senate. As [David McLaughlin]( and [Anna Edgerton]( report, she’ll reveal internal Facebook research showing its products can be used to undermine democracy — like the misinformation that fueled the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in Washington and vaccine skepticism — and damage the mental health of young users. Facebook shares already dropped 4.9% yesterday after Haugen appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” program, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth [taking]( a $6 billion hit. Some U.S. lawmakers are calling for Facebook to be [broken]( up. Others want limits on its ability to track users, especially kids, to expose them to more tailored, sometimes harmful content. Yet U.S. regulators have been behind the curve from the outset. The same Federal Trade Commission that’s suing Facebook for allegedly buying companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp to absorb them originally approved both deals. Globally, big tech is in the firing line, from crackdowns in China and South Korea to the European Union regulators’ $5 billion fine on Google, accusing it of uncompetitive behavior. Even ride-hailing and e-commerce companies are being targeted. The flipside is that some governments are already using regulatory pretexts to compel social-media platforms to censor opposition groups and opinions critical of them. For all its troubles, Facebook isn’t going away anytime soon. The company, worth almost $1 trillion, remains a money-making juggernaut. — [Karl Maier]( An illustration picture taken on March 22, 2018 in Paris. Photographer: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images Click [here]( to follow Bloomberg Politics on Twitter and tell us how we’re doing or what we’re missing at balancepower@bloomberg.net. Global Headlines Debt deadlock | President Joe Biden warned the U.S. government is at risk of breaching the legal limit on its debt in two weeks, [blaming]( Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for a “meteor” headed for the economy. Biden demanded that Republicans stop blocking Democratic efforts to suspend the debt ceiling, a legislative battle that’s brought the government to the brink of its first-ever default. Evening chill | European leaders will try their best to avoid talking about China in public when they gather in Slovenia, but disagreements over how to handle Beijing will cast a [shadow]( over a dinner tonight that opens their two-day summit. The EU’s landmark investment deal with China, currently frozen because of sanctions imposed on European lawmakers, will be high on the agenda, along with the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan and a new U.S.-led defense pact with Australia that angered France. As natural gas and electricity shortages jolt markets from the U.K. to China, the richest countries are also undergoing one of the most ambitious industry [overhauls]( since the dawn of the electric age. But with no easy way to store energy generated from renewable resources, the transition has made the global power network more fragile and easier to shock. Property domino | Another Chinese developer fell into crisis yesterday after failing to repay a maturing bond, [intensifying]( pressure on China’s property sector, as lower-rated developers face a surge in bond yields. China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, is stumbling toward what could be one of the nation’s biggest restructurings, fueling concern about wider market contagion. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Why Putin’s Money Eludes Offshore Sleuths: Leonid Bershidsky]( - [Beijing Blinked First in China’s Energy Crisis: David Fickling]( - [How Frances Haugen Left Mark Zuckerberg Speechless: Parmy Olson]( Greener tinge | After years of publicly dismissing climate change, President Vladimir Putin is finally [prodding]( officials to take the threat it poses to Russia’s economy more seriously. As [Evgenia Pismennaya](, [Yuliya Fedorinova]( and [Ilya Arkhipov]( report, the shift means the Kremlin is likely to come to November’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow with proposals to synchronize its efforts to measure carbon emissions with those in Europe. Looming crisis | Just weeks after the last U.S. troops left Afghanistan, a cash crisis is further crippling its economy. As [Eltaf Najafizada]( reports, the tight supply of money is forcing banks to limit withdrawals and adding to a humanitarian [crisis]( by exacerbating food shortages and driving up the cost of essential goods. - Wireless carriers that invested billions in Afghanistan’s telecom sector are [struggling]( to access dollars and pay suppliers, putting the country’s connections to the outside world at risk. Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with [David Westin]( weekdays from 12 to 1pm ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2pm ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here]( or check out prior episodes and guest clips [here](. Balance of Power will be broadcasting live from Capitol Hill today. What to Watch - Romanian Prime Minister Florin Citu is set to be [toppled]( in a no-confidence vote, intensifying political tensions that have already sent the national currency to a record low. - American officials are pushing the Singapore government to open a travel lane so visitors from the U.S. can enter the city-state with the same [freedoms]( travelers from Singapore get in the U.S., sources say. - Hong Kong’s ties with mainland China are more [important]( than international business and global travel connections, the Asian financial hub’s leader said today. - The U.K. has so far only received 127 applications from fuel-tanker drivers wanting to come to Britain, after saying it is open to issuing 5,000 short-term visas to plug critical [gaps]( in its labor market. - China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi will meet U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Switzerland this week, the South China Morning Post reported, amid rising [tensions]( between the two economic powers. And finally ... The list of people in the unprecedented [leak]( of financial records known as the Pandora Papers includes monarchs and heads of state, but some of the more than 11.9 million documents also name musicians and sports stars. As [Augusta Saraiva]( and [Francesca Maglione]( report, the data dump reveals financial details of celebrities from Shakira, Ringo Starr and Elton John and soccer personalities including Manchester City’s coach Pep Guardiola. Shakira in Miami, Florida last year. Photographer: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images North America  Like Balance of Power? [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022