Former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen told CBS’s 60 Minutes in a segment that aired Sunday that the social media giant constantly put profits before the public and its users and has turned over internal documents to federal agents.
Haugen, who has also worked at Google and Pinterest, said in the segment Facebook knew from research that the social media platform posed potential harm to teenage girls, along with amplifying hate and misinformation.
She said the company also ended safety protections for the 2020 elections before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Haugen is expected to testify to a Senate committee this week.
She said after the U.S. Capitol incident, employees complained on an internal messaging board.
“Facebook makes more money when you consume more content,” Haugen said. “People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction. And the more anger that they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume.”
Her attorneys have filed at least eight complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission against Facebook for violations with investors.
“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” Haugen said. “And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.”
Facebook responded to CBS News with a lengthy statement from Lena Pietsch, the social media company’s director of policy communications.
“Every day our teams have to balance protecting the right of billions of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place,” Pietsch said.
“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,” Pietsch said.
Pietsch said Facebook has developed a strong track record of using its own research and research from third-party experts to identify challenges with policing hate speech, misinformation and other issues.
Facebook said it was not to blame for the Jan. 6 attacks and safety measures taken during the 2020 election were being adjusted after its conclusion. The company said it had also banned “tens of thousands” of QAnon and other conspiracy theory sites before Jan. 6.
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Tell us something we already didn’t know.
I saw this and I am not impressed with this woman. She isn’t concerned about first amendment issues (which is the primary complaint against
Facebook). She seems to only be concerned about Facebook making too much money instead, and not strict enough banning of “misinformation” from conservatives.
I get your point but she had a couple of other points I am interested in and that is the platform they provide for the drug running cartels and the human traffickers world wide.
And I think it’s a lot more likely that Facebook can be taken down on those issues than on First Amendment issues because half this country is happy to have Facebook censoring as long as they are just censoring conservatives.
“Every day our teams have to balance protecting the right of billions of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place,” Pietsch said.”
“Pietsch said Facebook has developed a strong track record of using its own research and research from third-party experts to identify challenges with policing hate speech, misinformation and other issues.”
So, you recognize that you have problems that you choose to refer to as “policy”—meaning you enjoy playing Social Media cops and there is no intention to neither get in line nor improve one single thing. Business as usual at Facebook.
WE ‘self identify what’s wrong’. AND THAT IS THE BLOODY PROBLEM. THEY Should never be allowed TO Investigate themselves… That’s like asking the fox, “WHO BROKE into the hen house?”