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Whistleblower says Facebook is misleading public
A whistleblower accused Facebook of prioritizing profits over clamping down on hate speech and misinformation on Sunday. In an interview with the CBS program, “60 minutes” Frances Haugen revealed her identity as the one who leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal which then went on to publish a series of stories showing the company contributed to increased political division online.”Facebook is optimising content for an engagement or reaction, but its own research is showing that content is hateful, divisive, polarising, it is easier to inspire people to anger than it is other emotions. . .Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer people will spend less time on the site and they will click on less ads, they will make less money.”Haugen worked as a product manager on the civic misinformation team at Facebook and she’s set to testify before a Senate inquiry on Tuesday on the issue of Instagram’s effect on young users.The Wall Street Journal’s reports said Facebook was aware Instagram harmed the mental health of teenage girls.The paper also reported that Facebook failed to take steps to reduce vaccine hesitancy.Haugen has filed at least eight complaints with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission and said Facebook has lied to the public about the progress it made to clamp down on hate speech and misinformation on its platform. . .She also said Sunday that Facebook was used to help organize the Capitol riot on January 6, after the company turned off safety systems following the U.S. presidential elections.Facebook has refuted her points.In a statement after the interview they said quote:”We continue to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content. . .To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true.”
