Facebook chooses 'profit over safety,' says whistleblower

The whistleblower who shared a trove of Facebook documents alleging the societal media elephantine knew its products were fueling hatred and harming children's intelligence wellness revealed her individuality Sunday successful a televised interview, and accused the institution of choosing "profit implicit safety."

Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old information idiosyncratic from Iowa, has worked for companies including Google and Pinterest—but said successful an interrogation with CBS quality amusement "60 Minutes" that Facebook was "substantially worse" than thing she had seen before.

She called for the institution to beryllium regulated. "Facebook implicit and implicit again has shown it chooses nett implicit safety. It is subsidizing, it is paying for its profits with our safety," Haugen said.

"The mentation of Facebook that exists contiguous is tearing our societies isolated and causing ethnic violence astir the world," she said.

The world's largest societal media level has been embroiled successful a firestorm brought astir by Haugen, who arsenic an unnamed whistleblower shared documents with US lawmakers and The Wall Street Journal that elaborate however Facebook knew its products, including Instagram, were harming young girls, particularly astir assemblage image.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal responded to the interrogation up of Haugen's quality to attest successful Congress adjacent week, saying successful a statement: "Facebook's actions marque wide that we cannot spot it to constabulary itself. We indispensable see stronger oversight."

In the "60 Minutes" interrogation Haugen explained however the company's News Feed algorithm is optimized for contented that gets a reaction.

The company's ain probe shows that it is "easier to animate radical to choler than it is to different emotions," Haugen said.

"Facebook has realized that if they alteration the algorithm to beryllium safer, radical volition walk little clip connected the site, they'll click connected little ads, they'll marque little money."

During the 2020 US presidential election, she said, the institution realized the information that specified contented presented and turned connected information systems to trim it.

But "as soon arsenic the predetermination was implicit they crook them backmost off, oregon they alteration the settings backmost to what they were before, to prioritize maturation implicit safety, and that truly feels similar a betrayal of ideology to me," she said.

"No 1 astatine Facebook is malevolent," she said, adding that co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not acceptable retired to marque a "hateful" platform. But, Haugen said, the incentives are "misaligned."

'Ludicrous'

Facebook's vice president of argumentation and planetary affairs Nick Clegg vehemently pushed backmost astatine the assertion its platforms are "toxic" for teens, days aft a tense legislature proceeding successful which US lawmakers grilled the institution implicit its interaction connected the mental health of young users.

While Haugen did not gully a consecutive enactment betwixt the determination to rotation backmost safety systems and the US Capitol riot connected January 6, "60 Minutes" noted that the societal web was utilized by immoderate of the organizers of that violence.

During an quality connected CNN, Clegg dismissed the link.

"I deliberation the assertion (that) January 6th tin beryllium explained due to the fact that of societal media, I conscionable deliberation that's ludicrous," Clegg told the broadcaster, saying it was "false comfort" to judge exertion was driving America's deepening governmental polarization.

Polarization

The New York Times reported Saturday that Clegg sought to pre-empt Haugen's interrogation by penning a 1,500-word memo to unit alerting them of the "misleading" accusations.

Facebook has encountered disapproval that it fuels societal problems, attacks Clegg said should not remainder astatine Facebook's feet. But helium acknowledged that radical with pre-existing issues whitethorn not payment from societal media use.

He besides disputed reporting successful an explosive Wall Street Journal bid that Facebook's ain probe warned of the harm that photo-sharing app Instagram tin bash to teen girls' well-being.

"It's simply not borne retired by our probe oregon anybody else's that Instagram is atrocious oregon toxic for each teens," Clegg told CNN, but added Facebook's probe would continue.

Facing pressure, the institution had antecedently announced it would suspend but not wantonness the improvement of a mentation of Instagram meant for users younger than 13.

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© 2021 AFP