Photo: Matt McClain-Pool / Getty Images
A data scientist and former Facebook employee testified before Congress on Tuesday that the social media giant’s products harm users. children and fuel polarization in the United States, and added that its executives refuse to change as they prioritize profits over safety.
Frances Haugen, when appearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce on Consumer Protection, pointed out as the main person in charge of this situation to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg .
Although he was very critical of The company saw the possibility of constructive action and expressed some empathy for Facebook’s dilemma, while offering proposals to improve the security of the social network.
Haugen suggested that the minimum age to enter Instagram, owned by Facebook , could be increased from the 13 to the 16 or 18 current years.
Haugen accused the company of being aware of the apparent harm to some teenagers on Instagram and being dishonest in their public fight against hate and misinformation .
“Facebook products harm children, fuel division and weaken our democracy, ”Haugen said.
“ The company leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram more sure, but will not make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical earnings before the people. ”
“ Congressional action is needed ”, said. “They will not solve this crisis without your help.”
In September 2021, The Wall Street Journal published a series of internal Facebook documents that include reports of impact on users and security flaws within the social network disclosed by an anonymous witness who turned out to be Haugen herself, who revealed his identity on the show 60 Minutes on October 3, 2018.
Haugen said that while the company openly recognized that integrity controls were critical to internal systems that fuel user engagement, it did not fully implement some of those tools.
In dialogue with senators from both parties, Haugen, who focused on algorithm products in his work on Facebook, explained the importance for the company of the algorithms that govern what appears in the n user news.
She claimed that a change in 2018 in the content stream contributed to more divisions and ill will in a network apparently created to bring people together.
Despite the feud that the new algorithms fueled, he said Facebook found they helped it people will come back, a pattern that helped the social media giant sell more digital ads that generate the vast majority of its revenue.
” It has benefited from the spread of misinformation and misinformation and from sowing hatred, “said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, chair of the panel.
“Facebook’s responses to Facebook’s destructive impact always seem to be more Facebook, we need more Facebook, which means more pain and more money for Facebook.”
Haug en said he believed Facebook did not set out to build a destructive platform. “I have great empathy for Facebook,” he said. “These are really tough questions and I think they feel a bit trapped and isolated.”
But “in the end, the ball stops on Mark ”Said Haugen, referring to Zuckerberg, who controls more than 50% of the shares entitled to Facebook vote. “There is no one currently holding Mark responsible except himself.”
Haugen said he believed Zuckerberg was familiar with some of the internal investigations showing concerns about possible negative impacts of Instagram.
The former employee who challenges the social media giant with 2, 800 millions of users worldwide is a 37 years data expert from Iowa with a degree in computer engineering and an MBA from Harvard.
Read more
Frances Haugen: the woman who leaked the “Facebook Files” reveals her identity
The fall of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram lost more than $ 160 millions to economy g lobal
Facebook apologizes again for the collapse of the service yesterday and reveals what happened