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posted by martyb on Monday October 04 2021, @09:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the Facebook-will-return-soon! dept.

Facebook's new whistleblower is renewing scrutiny of the social media giant

The leaker came forward:

Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen: The 60 Minutes Interview (13m36s video)

Facebook's new whistleblower is renewing scrutiny of the social media giant

A data scientist named Frances Haugen has revealed herself to be the whistleblower behind a massive exposure of the inner workings at Facebook.

Prior to appearing on 60 Minutes on Sunday, Haugen, a former employee at the social media giant, kept her identity a secret after sharing thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents to the media and federal law enforcement.

[...] Haugen's document dump, her testimony scheduled in front of Congress this week, and an ongoing investigative reporting series into the company are potentially pushing Facebook into its biggest crisis yet. The negative spotlight also comes as Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly scrutinizing Facebook's actions.

The Facebook Files

The Facebook Files

Facebook Inc. knows, in acute detail, that its platforms are riddled with flaws that cause harm, often in ways only the company fully understands. That is the central finding of a Wall Street Journal series, based on a review of internal Facebook documents, including research reports, online employee discussions and drafts of presentations to senior management.

Time and again, the documents show, Facebook's researchers have identified the platform's ill effects. Time and again, despite congressional hearings, its own pledges and numerous media exposés, the company didn't fix them. The documents offer perhaps the clearest picture thus far of how broadly Facebook's problems are known inside the company, up to the chief executive himself.

  1. Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That's Exempt (archive) (podcast)
  2. Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Many Teen Girls, Company Documents Show (archive) (podcast)
  3. Facebook Tried to Make Its Platform a Healthier Place. It Got Angrier Instead. (archive) (podcast)
  4. Facebook Employees Flag Drug Cartels and Human Traffickers. The Company's Response Is Weak, Documents Show. (archive) (podcast)
  5. How Facebook Hobbled Mark Zuckerberg's Bid to Get America Vaccinated (archive)
  6. Facebook's Effort to Attract Preteens Goes Beyond Instagram Kids, Documents Show (archive) (podcast)
  7. Facebook's Documents About Instagram and Teens, Published (archive)
  8. Is Sheryl Sandberg's Power Shrinking? Ten Years of Facebook Data Offers Clues (archive)
  9. The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Says She Wants to Fix the Company, Not Harm It (archive) (podcast)

Archive links bypass the paywall, podcasts include a transcript.

See also: Instagram for Kids and What Facebook Knows About the Effects of Social Media


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

Related Stories

Meta's Oversight Board Finds Cross-check Puts 'Business Concerns' Ahead of Human Rights 15 comments

The board found numerous flaws in Facebook's moderation rules for celebs and and VIPs :

More than a year after Meta asked the Oversight Board to weigh in on its cross-check rules, the group has finally published its full policy advisory on the topic. The board found that the program, which creates a separate content moderation process for certain high-profile users, prioritizes the company's business over the rights of its users.

"In our review, we found several shortcomings in Meta's cross-check program," the board writes in its assessment. "While Meta told the Board that cross-check aims to advance Meta's human rights commitments, we found that the program appears more directly structured to satisfy business concerns." Notably, the critique echoes that of whistleblower Frances Haugen, who revealed explosive details about cross-check last year, and has said that Meta "chooses profits over safety."

Cross-check, or xcheck, is an internal program at Facebook and Instagram that shields celebrities, politicians, and other high-profile users from the company's automated content moderation systems. Meta has characterized it as a "second layer of review" to avoid mistakenly removing posts. But disclosures made by Haugen showed the program includes millions of accounts, and has enabled billions of views on posts that would have otherwise been taken down. The Oversight Board itself has accused Meta of being not "fully forthcoming" about the program, which was a central issue in the board's handling of the suspension of former President Donald Trump.

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  • (Score: 0, Troll) by fustakrakich on Monday October 04 2021, @09:26PM (3 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 04 2021, @09:26PM (#1184273) Journal

    We must protect regular mass media institutions with limited user input

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @05:47PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @05:47PM (#1184501)

      Troll

      Eh, just more cowardice from the same old circle jerk

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @09:44PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @09:44PM (#1184554)

        Says the most broken record around SN :-|

        I do love your continued downhill slide. I have my kids read through your comment history every few weeks so they can get a headstart on recognizing political propaganda and bad logic. So for that you have my 'thanks.'

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:49AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:49AM (#1184590)

          Whatever, the issue is the facebook censorship crusade, not your bullshit opinion

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Monday October 04 2021, @09:27PM (8 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday October 04 2021, @09:27PM (#1184274) Journal

    I wonder if Facebook's outages increase the visibility of this story or not. I searched "Facebook down" and found this one [deadline.com] in the first page of results, nothing for "Facebook". Maybe some of the stories mention the whistleblower though, I didn't check.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 04 2021, @09:34PM (6 children)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Monday October 04 2021, @09:34PM (#1184280) Journal

      Buy when it hits bottom

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:30PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:30PM (#1184303)

        Zero?

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 05 2021, @11:07AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @11:07AM (#1184413) Journal
          You have to catch the dead cats on the second bounce. True story.
        • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:10PM

          by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:10PM (#1184447) Journal

          Zero?

          It would be much gooder to buy in when the shares have negative value, where they pay you to take the shares. Once it goes above zero and skyrockets to infinity and beyond, imagine the prophets! Way more profitable than buying in at a positive share price and then watching it skyrocket to infinity and beyond.

          Someone who knows about stalks on the intarweb tubes tolled me so!

          --
          People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:06PM (2 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:06PM (#1184444) Journal

        Buy when it hits bottom

        Bye when it hits bottom.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday October 05 2021, @06:07PM (1 child)

          by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday October 05 2021, @06:07PM (#1184510) Journal

          Watch for what rises out of the ashes. Touch up the logo, and.. voila! MySpace III.. Instant billionaire, provided the fed keeps the tap open

          --
          La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 05 2021, @06:26PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @06:26PM (#1184516) Journal

            Maybe GeoCities is a more marketable name?

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Username on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:04AM

      by Username (4557) on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:04AM (#1184389)

      I give a 30% probability to the theory that this was the reason facebook was down.
          - 05% the feds securing evidence
          - 95% they clintoned the records

  • (Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:37PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:37PM (#1184305)

    That was private Facebook information she leaked and it is important not to violate privacy.

    • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:39PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:39PM (#1184306)

      But she's a "whistleblower". [thefederalist.com]

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:50PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 04 2021, @10:50PM (#1184309)

        By that logic, Facebook could just be blowing the whistle on each of its users every time they ass-fuck said user's privacy.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by jimbrooking on Tuesday October 05 2021, @12:26AM (2 children)

        by jimbrooking (3465) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @12:26AM (#1184330)

        Crimes against humanity, sedition, whatever. And his whole board of directors with him. There need to be consequences more punishing than giving him a million dollars a minute!

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by digitalaudiorock on Tuesday October 05 2021, @05:35PM (1 child)

          by digitalaudiorock (688) on Tuesday October 05 2021, @05:35PM (#1184499) Journal

          What bothered me was the instant headlines about how she'll be testifying to the Senate about facebook's affect on children. I sure hope that doesn't become the only focus ffs. I mean sure that's a concern. But when social media gets the fucking adults to try to overthrow the democracy, maybe going into "Won't someone please think of the children!" mode isn't what we fucking need at the moment.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @07:54AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @07:54AM (#1184386)

    There will be a bit of fuss to appease the angry mob and in a few weeks business will go back to "normal".

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:56AM (#1184394)

      If Congress and the media don't reign it in, we'll have another insurreeeeeection.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:12PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:12PM (#1184736)

      What a 'leaker' suddenly pops up and says exactly what the establishment wants her to say. Suddenly she is front page on every news org out there. But oh no she is totally credible.

      I am calling shenanigans and going to get my broom. This looks like a joe job, and a decently coordinated one at that to push a reason to kick more people off the internet.

      But you are right I expect a lot of harumph and nothing done.

  • (Score: 1, Redundant) by Username on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:01AM (1 child)

    by Username (4557) on Tuesday October 05 2021, @08:01AM (#1184388)

    I give a 30% probability to the theory that this was the reason facebook was down.
      - 05% the feds securing evidence
      - 95% they clintoned the records

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:16PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 05 2021, @02:16PM (#1184449) Journal

      100% they Trumped their BGP [krebsonsecurity.com]

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:28PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:28PM (#1184812)

    ... perennial, multi-company gadfly with strong progressive leanings but more money than most people will ever see, delivers a warning that a shitty company is being shittier in more directions than previously suspected, in support of a big-government argument for regulating the industry, rather than (for example) honing the antitrust knives and carving every 50%+ market owning firm up like a honey-glazed ham.

    If Facebook were the size of, say, Gab, or Myspace (they still exist, folks!) none of this would have rated a more than a glance and a snort. But now the powers that be can argue for all sorts of stupidity, following in Australia's footsteps in the interests of doing things like requiring human editorial intervention in any facebook posting.

    Incidentally, we should just create a banner with her face and put it under Useful Idiot in urbandictionary.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:13PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07 2021, @08:13PM (#1185280)

      From nothing to 60 Minutes to Congress in a week. Sounds like a planned op.

  • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:38PM

    by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:38PM (#1184959)

    it prioritized profits over taking bolder steps to curtail abuse on its platform

    Prioritizing profits is what corporations do, and too many of them seem to have little concern over whatever harm they are causing.

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