An ex-employee plunged Facebook into the worst crisis since the Cambridge Analytica scandal. 37-year-old Frances Haugen provided key information for a series of articles in Wall Street Journalafter Facebook came under significant political pressure in the US. Among other things, it dealt with the effects of the Instagram photo service on young users. Haugen first identified herself as a whistleblower in interviews published on Sunday. She is due to testify in the US Senate on Tuesday.
Haugen said that Wall Street Journalthat 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 felt that her team did not have enough resources to make a difference.
Her impression was also 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 time and time again to optimize its business for its own interests.
Because of this, her 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 several U.S. states such as California, Vermont, and Tennessee. The SEC complaints are based on the requirement that Facebook, as a publicly traded company, not lie to investors or withhold information.
What influence does Instagram have on young users?
From the series of reports in Wall Street Journal In the past few weeks, the article, which dealt with internal studies on the influence of Instagram on young users, had a particularly hard hit. Among other things, a report by Facebook researchers said that many teenagers – especially girls – Instagram increased dissatisfaction with their own bodies. That causes eating disorders and depression.
Facebook pointed out after the report that, according to additional 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 an incorrect date of birth when registering.
With “Instagram Kids” Facebook wanted to tackle 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 safety, did not get through to the senators with her relativizing statements.
The Democrat Ed Markey compared the approach of the online network, especially on Instagram, with the irresponsible behavior of 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 so far not 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 that Wall Street Journal as early as December last year after her department was disbanded. 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.
Haugens had moved to Puerto Rico during the pandemic – and the HR department told her that this would not be accepted as a remote workstation. “The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and triggering ethnic violence around the world,” she told “60 Minutes”.
A Facebook spokesman explained that Wall Street Journal On Sunday after Haugen’s statements, 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 what employees are called 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 before it reached the users.
It is clear that Facebook is under more pressure, especially in US politics, than it has been since the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 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.