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PALO ALTO (CBS SF) — Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen calmly told a legislature subcommittee Tuesday that Facebook chooses to let harmful contented connected its level that is “disastrous” for nine and for children successful peculiar due to the fact that of the astronomical profits specified contented generates.
After Haugen’s alarming revelations in her 60 Minutes interview and a worldwide Facebook outage connected Monday, exertion analysts expect much fallout pursuing her testimony.
“The choices being made wrong of Facebook are disastrous for our children, for our nationalist safety, for our privateness and for our democracy,” she told the subcommittee.
“Facebook consistently resolved these conflicts successful favour of its ain profits. The effect has been much division, much harm, much lies, much threats and much combat,” she continued. “In immoderate cases this unsafe online speech has led to existent unit that harms and adjacent kills people.”
Video: Haugen Testifies That ‘Facebook Knows’ It Leads Girls To Anorexia Content
“This is not a substance of definite societal media users being aggravated oregon unstable. Or astir 1 broadside being radicalized against the other. It is astir Facebook deciding to turn astatine each costs.”
Video: Haugen Explains Mark Zuckerberg’s Role In Content Selection
Following her testimony, Facebook Policy Communications Director Lena Pietsch issued the pursuing statement:
“Today, a Senate Commerce subcommittee held a proceeding with a erstwhile merchandise manager astatine Facebook who worked for the institution for little than 2 years, had nary nonstop reports, ne'er attended a decision-point gathering with C-level executives – and testified much than six times to not moving connected the taxable substance successful question. We don’t hold with her characterization of the galore issues she testified about. Despite each this, we hold connected 1 thing; it’s clip to statesman to make modular rules for the internet. It’s been 25 years since the rules for the net person been updated, and alternatively of expecting the manufacture to marque societal decisions that beryllium to legislators, it is clip for Congress to act.”
Haugen stepped retired of the shadows connected Sunday nighttime successful an interrogation with CBS News “60 Minutes”, shedding airy connected the dark, murky, troubled satellite surrounding the Bay Area societal media giant.
Watch The “60 Minutes” Interview
Haugen, who worked astatine Google and Pinterest earlier joining Facebook successful 2019, anonymously filed complaints with national instrumentality enforcement that the company’s ain probe shows however it magnifies hatred and misinformation.
She had asked to enactment successful an country of the institution that fights misinformation, since she mislaid a person to online conspiracy theories.
Haugen testified Tuesday greeting earlier a Senate subcommittee, wherever she made an impassioned plea to lawmakers saying, “A institution with power implicit our deepest thoughts, feelings and behaviors needs existent oversight.”
Read Facebook Whistleblower’s SEC Complaints
“Congress, present the shot is really successful their court. What other bash you privation too this?”
Two tech experts told KPIX 5 that Facebook has done specified a mediocre occupation of regulating itself, it’s lone a substance of clip earlier the authorities steps in, and the thousands of pages of documents and probe Haugen took from Facebook erstwhile she near could beryllium the tipping constituent for Congress to yet enactment and make immoderate benignant of authorities oversight.
“These societal media companies cannot constabulary themselves. We’ve tried that before,” said San Jose State University prof Ahmed Banafa.
This each comes arsenic Facebook and its different platforms Instagram and Whatsapp suffered monolithic outages for astir of Monday.
“This is 1 of those things that seems awfully coincidental fixed that you person grounds going connected tomorrow,” said Rob Enderle, a exertion analyst.
Enderle thinks it’s lone a substance of clip earlier much Facebook employees travel guardant with different allegations.
“This is not an lawsuit that is truthful contained that lone 1 idiosyncratic knows astir it, and present that the whistleblower has travel forward, authorities investigators volition beryllium looking for corroboration,” said Enderle.
Facebook’s effect to “60 Minutes” Report
Quotes from the report:
On Why She Took Her Stand
“Imagine you cognize what’s going connected wrong of Facebook and you cognize nary 1 connected the extracurricular knows. I knew what my aboriginal looked similar if I continued to enactment wrong of Facebook, which is idiosyncratic aft idiosyncratic aft idiosyncratic has tackled this wrong of Facebook and crushed themselves to the ground.”
On The Dark World Of Social Media
“When we unrecorded successful an accusation situation that is afloat of angry, hateful, polarizing contented it erodes our civic trust, it erodes our religion successful each other, it erodes our quality to privation to attraction for each other, the mentation of Facebook that exists contiguous is tearing our societies isolated and causing taste unit astir the world.”
On The Programming Of Facebook Algorithm
“So, you know, you person your phone. You mightiness spot lone 100 pieces of contented if you beryllium and scroll connected for, you know, 5 minutes. But Facebook has thousands of options it could amusement you.”
On The Facebook Culture
“No 1 astatine Facebook is malevolent. But the incentives are misaligned, right? Like, Facebook makes much wealth erstwhile you devour much content. radical bask engaging with things that elicit an affectional reaction. And the much choler that they get exposed to, the much they interact and the much they consume.”
Katie Nielsen contributed to this report.
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