An ex-employee plunged Facebook into the worst crisis since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The 37-year-old Frances Haugen provided key information for a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal , after which Facebook came under considerable political pressure in the USA. Among other things, it dealt with the effects of the Instagram photo service on young users. Haugen first revealed herself as a whistleblower in interviews published on Sunday. On Tuesday, she is supposed to testify in the US Senate.
Haugen told the Wall Street Journal that she was frustrated. The online network Facebook does not openly deal with the fact that it can cause damage. Her job at Facebook, which she gave up in May after about two years, included the fight against attempts to manipulate elections. However, she quickly had the feeling that her team had too few resources to make a difference.
Her impression was that Facebook continued to focus on growth, although the company was aware of the negative effects of the platform on users. “There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” said Haugen at “60 Minutes”. And Facebook has decided over and over again to optimize the business for its own interests.
Therefore, their lawyers have filed at least eight complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. According to her attorney, John Tye, Haugen has shared some internal documents with attorneys general in some U.S. states such as California, Vermont, and Tennessee. The SEC complaints are based on the requirement of Facebook as a listed company not to lie to investors or withhold information.
What influence does Instagram have on young users? and users?
From the series of reports in the Wall Street Journal in the past few weeks hit particularly hard the article dealing with internal research on the influence of Instagram on young users. Among other things, a report by Facebook researchers said that many teenagers – especially girls – Instagram increased dissatisfaction with their own bodies. This causes eating disorders and depression.
After the report, Facebook pointed out that according to further data from the same studies, teenagers had identified other topics as helpful. Nevertheless, last week the online network put plans for an Instagram version for ten- to twelve-year-olds on hold. Children aged 13 and over are currently allowed to use Instagram. However, many give the wrong date of birth when registering.
With “Instagram Kids” Facebook wanted to address this problem too. But after a hearing in the US Senate it became clear that this would be difficult to achieve politically. Antigone Davis, the manager responsible for user security, did not get through to the senators with her relativizing statements with irresponsible behavior by the tobacco industry. “Instagram is that first cigarette of childhood,” said Markey, among other things, to addictiveness to teenagers at an early age and endanger their health. “Facebook acts like the big tobacco companies: They distribute a product that they know is harmful to the health of young people.” Facebook founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg and the top manager responsible for the operational business Sheryl Sandberg have not yet commented on the controversy.
Facebook is under more pressure than it has been in a long time
As it became known on Sunday, Haugen contacted the Wall Street Journal in December last year after her department was dissolved. According to her own information, she found, to her surprise, various studies on the influence on users, which were accessible to practically all employees in the internal communication platform of the online network. She collected such material until she left Facebook in the spring.
Haugen had moved to Puerto Rico in the pandemic – and the HR department told her that this was not a remote workstation will be accepted. “The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and sparking ethnic violence around the world,” she said “60 Minutes.”
A Facebook spokesman told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday after Haugen’s statements that the online network tries every day to find a balance between the right of billions of people to freedom of expression and a safe environment for users . Haugen officially applied to the US authorities for protection as a whistleblower – this is the name given to employees who want to uncover grievances by passing on information. At the same time, top manager Guy Rosen emphasized that Facebook can now filter out hate speech down to 0.05 percent of such posts, even before they reach the users.
It is clear that Facebook is ahead especially in US politics is under as much pressure as it has not been since the scandal over Cambridge Analytica 2018 . At that time it became known that years earlier a data analysis company had been able to access information from millions of users without their knowledge.
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