Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to compare the company’s tactics to those of Big Tobacco.įacebook has already responded to the allegations with defense from a familiar playbook, similar to its response to President Joe Biden’s criticism that the platform was “killing people” because of the spread of Covid-19 misinformation on the platform. The extent to which Facebook seemingly knew about the harmful effects of its products and withheld that knowledge from the public has caused lawmakers such as Sen.
#Tech n9ne the storm has it leaked series#
Nor has a Facebook defector had this kind of press rollout: first, a series of investigative reports with a major publication, then an unveiling on primetime television, and soon testimony before Congress - all within the span of just a few weeks.
And never before have they revealed such detailed evidence that the company seemingly understands but ignores systematic harms it causes.
While plenty of Facebook employees have spoken out against the company anonymously or internally, only a handful - particularly at a high-ranking level - have ever spoken out on the record against Facebook. “This is the first time I can remember anything this dramatic, with an anonymous whistleblower, this many documents, and a big reveal,” said Katie Harbath, a former director of public policy at Facebook who is now a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Atlantic Council. The fact that she is coordinating with lawmakers reflects how politicians on both sides of the aisle are viewing social media companies like Facebook with more concern - and that they’re becoming more adept at scrutinizing them. Haugen has also shared internal Facebook documents with lawmakers and is expected to testify before members of Congress on Tuesday. Already, in response to documents revealed by Haugen, the whistleblower, the company has paused development of its Instagram for Kids product, brought two executives before Congress to testify, and launched a PR offensive dismissing the Wall Street Journal’s reporting as “cherry picking.” But this is a staggering moment for the company and the billions of people who use its products. In an internal staff memo obtained and published on Friday by the New York Times, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, wrote that the responsibility for January 6 “rests squarely with the perpetrators of the violence, and those in politics and elsewhere who actively encouraged them.” Clegg also wrote that Facebook is not a “primary cause of polarization.”įacebook has been mired in PR and political crises for the past five years. She also shared new allegations - not previously covered in the WSJ’s extensive reporting - about Facebook allegedly relaxing its standards on misinformation after the 2020 presidential elections, shortly ahead of the January 6 riots at the US Capitol. And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money,” said Haugen in the 60 Minutes interview on Sunday. “There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. The reports revealed that the company knew its products can cause meaningful harm - including negatively impacting the mental health of teens - but it still has not made major changes to fix such problems. On Sunday evening, a former Facebook employee who has previously revealed damning internal documents about the company came forward on 60 Minutes to reveal her identity.įrances Haugen, a former product manager on Facebook’s civic integrity team, shared documents that were the basis of an explosive series of articles in the Wall Street Journal.