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Facebook's New Whistleblower is Renewing Scrutiny of the Social Media Giant

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

takyon writes:

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

takyon writes:

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 #1  Original Submission #2 

 
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  • (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.

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  • (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.