Facebook whistleblower revealed on ’60 Minutes,’ says the company prioritized profit over public good

The individuality of the Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of interior probe and documents — starring to a firestorm for the societal media company successful caller weeks — was revealed connected “60 Minutes” Sunday nighttime arsenic Frances Haugen.

The 37-year-old erstwhile Facebook merchandise manager who worked connected civic integrity issues astatine the institution says the documents amusement that Facebook knows its platforms are utilized to dispersed hate, unit and misinformation, and that the institution has tried to fell that evidence.

“The happening I saw astatine Facebook implicit and implicit again was determination were conflicts of involvement betwixt what was bully for the nationalist and what was bully for Facebook, and Facebook implicit and implicit again chose to optimize for its ain interests, similar making much money,” Haugen told “60 Minutes.”

“60 Minutes” analogous Scott Pelley quoted 1 interior Facebook papers arsenic saying: “We person grounds from a assortment of sources that hatred speech, divisive governmental code and misinformation connected Facebook and the household of apps are affecting societies astir the world.”

About a period ago, Haugen filed astatine slightest 8 complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that the institution is hiding probe astir its shortcomings from investors and the public. She besides shared the documents with the Wall Street Journal, which published a multi-part investigation showing that Facebook was alert of problems with its apps, including the antagonistic effects of misinformation and the harm caused, particularly to young girls, by Instagram.

Haugen, who started astatine Facebook successful 2019 aft antecedently moving for different tech giants similar Google and Pinterest, is acceptable to attest connected Tuesday earlier the Senate Subcommittee connected Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security.

“I’ve seen a clump of societal networks, and it was substantially worse astatine Facebook than thing I’ve seen before,” Haugen said. “At immoderate constituent successful 2021, I realized I’m going to person to bash this successful a systemic way, that I’m going to person to get retired capable [documents] that nary 1 tin question that this is real.”

Facebook has aggressively pushed back against the reports, calling galore of the claims “misleading” and arguing that its apps bash much bully than harm.

“Every time our teams person to equilibrium protecting the quality of billions of radical to explicit themselves openly with the request to support our level a harmless and affirmative place,” Facebook spokesperson Lena Pietsch said successful a connection to CNN Business instantly pursuing the “60 Minutes” interview. “We proceed to marque important improvements to tackle the dispersed of misinformation and harmful content. To suggest we promote atrocious contented and bash thing is conscionable not true.”

Several hours aft the interrogation aired, Pietsch released a much than 700-word connection laying retired what it called “missing facts” from the segment, and saying the interrogation “used prime institution materials to archer a misleading communicative astir the probe we bash to amended our products.”

A spokesperson for “60 Minutes” did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from CNN Business connected Facebook’s claims.

On Sunday greeting up of the “60 Minutes” interview, Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg told CNN’s Brian Stelter that “there is nary perfection connected societal media arsenic overmuch arsenic successful immoderate different locomotion of life.”

“We bash a immense magnitude of research, we stock it with outer researchers arsenic overmuch arsenic we can, but bash retrieve determination is … a satellite of quality betwixt doing a peer-reviewed workout successful practice with different academics and preparing papers internally to provoke and pass interior discussion,” Clegg said.

Haugen said she believes Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg “never acceptable retired to marque a hateful platform, but helium has allowed choices to beryllium made wherever the broadside effects of those choices are that hateful and polarizing contented gets much organisation and much reach.”

Whistleblower revealed

Haugen said she was recruited by Facebook successful 2019 and took the occupation to enactment connected addressing misinformation. But aft the institution decided to dissolve its civic integrity squad soon aft the 2020 Presidential Election, her feelings astir the institution started to change.

She suggested that this determination — and moves by the institution to crook disconnected different predetermination extortion measures specified arsenic misinformation prevention tools — allowed the level to beryllium utilized to assistance signifier the January 6 riot connected Capitol Hill.

“They fundamentally said, ‘Oh good, we made it done the election, determination weren’t riots, we tin get escaped of civic integrity now,'” she said. “Fast guardant a mates of months, and we had the Insurrection. When they got escaped of civic integrity, it was the infinitesimal wherever I was like, ‘I don’t spot that they’re consenting to really put what needs to beryllium invested to support Facebook from being dangerous.'”

Facebook says the civic integrity team’s enactment was distributed to different units erstwhile it was dissolved. Facebook Vice President of Integrity Guy Rosen said connected Twitter Sunday night that the radical was integrated into different teams truthful the “work pioneered for elections could beryllium applied adjacent further.”

The societal media company’s algorithm that’s designed to amusement users contented that they’re astir apt to prosecute with is liable for galore of its problems, Haugen said.

“One of the consequences of however Facebook is picking retired that contented contiguous is that it is optimizing for contented that gets engagement, a reaction, but its ain probe is showing that contented that is hateful, that is divisive, that is polarizing, it’s easier to animate radical to choler than it is to different emotions,” she said. She added that the institution recognizes that “if they alteration the algorithm to beryllium safer, radical volition walk little clip connected the site, they’ll click connected little ads, they’ll marque little money.”

Facebook’s Pietsch said successful her Sunday nighttime connection that the level depends connected “being utilized successful ways that bring radical person together” to pull advertisers, adding, “protecting our assemblage is much important than maximizing our profits.”

In an interior memo obtained by the New York Times earlier Sunday, Clegg disputed claims that Facebook contributed to the January 6 riot.

“Social media has had a large interaction connected nine successful caller years, and Facebook is often a spot wherever overmuch of this statement plays out,” Clegg said successful the memo. “So it’s earthy for radical to inquire whether it is portion of the problem. But the thought that Facebook is the main origin of polarization isn’t supported by the facts.”

Haugen said that portion “no 1 astatine Facebook is malevolent … the incentives are misaligned.”

“Facebook makes much wealth erstwhile you devour much content. People bask engaging with things that elicit an affectional reaction,” she said. “And the much choler that they get exposed to, the much they interact and the much they consume.”