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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsExplosive Facebook Memo Defended Companys Strategy, Even If It Got People Killed
Explosive Facebook Memo Defended Companys Strategy, Even If It Got People Killed
We connect people. Period. Thats why all the work we do in growth is justified, an executive wrote in 2016.
By Nick Visser
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/facebook-memo-andrew-boz-bosworth_us_5abdace2e4b055e50acc8486
A top Facebook executive wrote an internal memo in 2016 that defended the companys growth as necessary and justified, even if the social network was used to bully someone to death or help plan a terrorist attack.
The leaked document, obtained by BuzzFeed News and published Thursday, was written by Vice President Andrew Boz Bosworth. Titled The Ugly, Bosworth roundly defended Facebooks acquisition of user data, what he calls all the questionable contact importing practices and all the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends.
We connect people. Period. Thats why all the work we do in growth is justified, he wrote. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it.
He continued: That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs someone a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.
And still we connect people.
Bosworth acknowledged that he wrote the memo but said he no longer agrees with the post today and didnt agree with it even when I wrote it. He is seen as an outspoken figure at Facebook, the outlet reported, known for being blunt.
why did you write a post you dont agree with? It was intended to be provocative. This was one of the most unpopular things Ive ever written internally and the ensuing debate helped shape our tools for the better.
Boz (@boztank) March 29, 2018
The purpose of this post ... was to bring to the surface issues I felt deserved more discussion, he said. Having a debate around hard topics like these is a critical part of our process, and to do that effectively we have to be able to consider even bad ideas.
The document showcases Facebook executives awareness of its power, both good and bad, years before the company was embroiled in controversy over the misuse of user data. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that the data firm Cambridge Analytica misused the data of 50 million people, prompting calls for Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to testify before Congress.
Zuckerberg decried the memo in a statement released Thursday, saying it was something he disagreed with strongly.
Boz is a talented leader who says many provocative things, he said in the statement. This was one that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly. Weve never believed the ends justify the means.
Read the full memo at BuzzFeed News.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanmac/growth-at-any-cost-top-facebook-executive-defended-data?utm_term=.qqJ4E9j1m#.ro1DJZGgN
dalton99a
(81,700 posts)What a damn liar
marble falls
(57,479 posts)dalton99a
(81,700 posts)He tells people how and when to empathize:
"A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa."
- Mark Zuckerberg (word-for-word quote from David Kirkpatrick's book "The Facebook Effect" )
marble falls
(57,479 posts)YessirAtsaFact
(2,064 posts)The profit motive has no conscience.
Leaders in organizations like Facebook lose perspective and justify all kinds of horrible behavior in the name of increasing shareholder value.