FB down one day after whistleblower’s accusations that the company profits from promoting hate speech
Silicon Valley (QNN)- Shortly after Facebook’s Head of Global Safety, Antigone Davis, was live on CNBC defending the company over a whistleblower’s accusations, which suggested that Facebook is promoting hate speech for profit and that its handling of research data suggests that Instagram is harmful to teens, Facebook’s entire network of services suddenly went offline.
On Twitter, Facebook communications exec Andy Stone said, “We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”
The Wall Street Journal had published a leak of an enormous cache of Facebook documents by a whistleblower on Sunday. The whistleblower Frances Haugen, who revealed her identity on national television, described Facebook as a company so committed to product optimization that it embraced algorithms that amplify hate speech.
“It’s paying for its profits with our safety,” Haugen told 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley.
According to a since deleted LinkedIn profile Haugen was a product manager at Facebook assigned to the Civic Integrity group. She chose to leave the company in 2021 after the dissolving of the group. She said she didn’t “trust that they’re willing to invest what actually needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous.”
Consequently she leaked a cache of internal research to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the hopes of driving better regulation of the company. She noted that she had worked at a number of companies, including Google and Pinterest, but that “it was substantially worse at Facebook” due to the company’s desire to put its profits over the welfare of its users
“There was conflict… between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” Haugen told Pelley, “and Facebook chose over and over again to optimize for its own interests — like making more money.”
While the company repeatedly claims it is helping stop hate speech, at least on its own products, one internal Facebook document leaked by Haugen says, “We estimate that we may action as little as 3-5% of hate and ~0.6% of V&I [Violence and Incitement] on Facebook despite being the best in the world at it.”
“We have evidence from a variety of sources that hate speech, divisive political speech, and misinformation on Facebook and the family of apps are affecting societies around the world.”
Haugen said the root of the problem is the algorithims rolled out in 2018 that govern what you see on the platform. According to her they are meant to drive engagement and the company has found that the best engagement is the kind instilling fear and hate in users. “Its easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions,” Hagen said.
The Wall Street Journal began publishing its findings from the cache under the name “The Facebook Files” in September. One report alleging Facebook had research proving Instagram harmed teenage girls has since led to a Congressional hearing.
Facebook Vice President of Global Affair Nick Clegg appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources to defend the company on Sunday afternoon, just hours before Haugen would appear.
“I think that’s ludicrous,” Clegg said of the allegation that social media was responsible for the January 6 riots. “I think it gives people false comfort to assume that there must be a technological, or technical, explanation for the issues of political polarization in the United States.”
Source: The Verge
