Facebook whistleblower appeared, bluntly saying that the company “puts interests above safety”

RecentWall Street JournalI have published a batch of information purportedly from within Facebook, exposing that this giant will allow VIPs to break the rules, and I know how its Instagram will affect the physical and mental health of teenagers.And now Frances Haugen, the whistleblower behind the information, shows up 60 Minutes The program accepted an exclusive interview and personally criticized some of Facebook’s actions.

“I know many social networks, and Facebook’s situation is much worse than those I’ve seen before.” Haugen was followed byNew York TimesIn the interview, “Facebook has shown time and time again that they will choose to put their interests above safety.” According to HaugenPersonal websitewith Twitter accountAs written, the former product manager who resigned from Facebook in May joined the company in 2019. During her tenure, she was responsible for issues related to democracy and false information, and will deal with anti-commercial espionage activities.

After deciding to expose Facebook’s actions, Haugen first provided “tens of thousands of pages” of internal Facebook information to John Tye, the founder of the Whistleblower Aid organization, and asked him to provide legal protection and assist in publishing this information. The content includes research reports, slides, letters, etc. within the company. At the same time, she also sent a report letter to the SEC, accusing Facebook of taking internal actions completely inconsistent with its public statement.

In the letter, Haugen compared Facebook’s internal research results and documents with the public statements and disclosures of CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives. In one example, it is mentioned that Facebook has actually contributed to the false news during the election and the congressional impact. “Facebook has been propagating that it has made great efforts to combat false information and extreme statements related to elections and congressional events, but in fact they are very aware that their algorithms and platforms will promote such harmful content, and they have not deployed internal recommendations. Or a more effective countermeasure.” In addition to contacting the SEC, which usually protects corporate whistleblowers, Haugen and her team of lawyers have also contacted certain U.S. senators and also contacted the British and French counterparts. Communicate with the legal department and communicate with a member of the European Parliament.

Facebook, which has been trying to quell the incident recently, preemptively stated that all Haugen’s allegations were “misleading” before the 60 Minutes interview. Nick Clegg, vice president in charge of policy and global affairs, told CNN that Facebook represents “the good, the bad, and the ugly (different sides) of human nature,” and it is working to “reduce the bad and amplify the good” to make things like this impact Congress. The blame for social media is “very ridiculous”.

In a statement to the New York Times, Facebook representative Lena Pietsch stated that the company will continue to “make major improvements to prevent the spread of false information and harmful content.” She also stated that “all allegations that Facebook sits idly by and encourages bad content are No basis.” It’s worth mentioning that Haugen admitted on the show that he didn’t want to see Facebook’s collapse, but that he wanted to help it get back on track. “Transparency and regulation are the way forward. These are not meant to defeat Facebook,” she said.

On December 5 this year, Haugen will testify in Congress on the impact of Facebook on young users.