Ex-Facebook employee says products hurt kids, fuel division

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARCY GORDON

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Facebook data scientist told Congress on Tuesday that the social network giant’s products harm children and fuel polarization in the U.S. while its executives refuse to make changes because they elevate profits over safety.

Frances Haugen testified to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection. She is accusing the company of being aware of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and being dishonest in its public fight against hate and misinformation.

Haugen has come forward with a wide-ranging condemnation of Facebook, buttressed with tens of thousands of pages of internal research documents she secretly copied before leaving her job in the company’s civic integrity unit. She also has filed complaints with federal authorities alleging that Facebook’s own research shows that it amplifies hate, misinformation and political unrest, but the company hides what it knows.

Haugen says she is speaking out because of her belief that “Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.”



Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen arrives to testify during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/facebook-haugen-congress-testimony-1daac7a76ca7bf0b0802cc46e732b51b

[Karma13612]

1. I've been

Watching her testimony.

Amazing person. Amazing in her depth of knowledge, integrity, confidence and belief systems. I suspect she will be asked to be part of some advisory board that is a result of this investigation. I would not be surprised if she was the Chair.

Now I’m sorry I missed her interview on CBS 60 Minutes on Sunday.

[Pinback]

2. 60 Minutes link with video:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-misinformation-public-60-minutes-2021-10-03/

They've broken up the interview into segments, but I believe all the material is included at this link. Ms. Haugen is a highly accomplished tech executive with a track record of success at some prominent companies, and very sincere. She is performing a valuable public service. I have no faith in Facebook reforming itself, but I hope this will provide more pressure to force them to do so.

[Pinback]

3. Link to her testimony on C-Span:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4980406/whistleblower-frances-haugen-calls-congress-regulate-facebook

[Jon King]

4. Like I said yesterday, DUers should boycott Facebook.

Checking up on classmates for 50 years ago is not worth giving them revenue that they use to destroy democracy.

[dalton99a]

5. But people cannot communicate without Facebook

Without Facebook there would be no way to organize a class reunion or announce the birth of a child or what you ate for breakfast

[Sapient Donkey]

6. I saw more than a few people yesterday who were really really upset over Facebook being down

and they were even more upset at people who were laughing about it being down, because it was totally ruining their lives. I am sure there were people who did suffer some legitimate harm from it being down. I'm not imaginative enough to think up what those situations would be, but it seems statistically possible that a small number of people could be in some situation where it matters a lot. For those people, I obviously feel bad for them, but the majority of people were just upset that they could not post dumb stuff to their wall or group chats. Maybe they will learn to diversify their communications.

Based on their language you'd think they were suffering the same amount of despair as those poor people desperate to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban took over. It annoyed me how upset some these people were with their hyperbolic language used to describe the suffering they were going though. Major disconnect from reality, I think.