After a forgotten Monday, the last hours have not exactly been a party for Facebook . The company directed by Mark Zuckerberg received more fire during the hearing in the United States Senate that featured Frances Haugen . This is the former employee who leaked information to The Wall Street Journal about the way the social network operates.
Haugen had already been seen publicly on Sunday, in a television interview with him program 60 Minutes. There he spoke about the dangers of Facebook and Instagram and their impact on adolescents, and how the company behind both platforms is willing to do anything to obtain greater economic benefits.
In his presentation before him Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Safety of the US Senate, Frances Haugen ratified what she had already mentioned publicly. But he also responded to questions from legislators, who in turn did not miss the opportunity to lash out at Facebook.
In her opening statement (which you can read in full here), the former manager of Facebook product went straight to the bone, and unloaded heavy artillery against Mark Zuckerberg and company:
My name is Frances Haugen. I used to work on Facebook. I joined Facebook because I believe it has the potential to bring out the best in us. But I am here today because I believe that Facebook products harm children, fuel division, and weaken our democracy. Those who run the company know how to make Facebook and Instagram more secure, but they won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits ahead of the people. Congressional action is needed. They will not solve this crisis without your help.
Some of the most prominent phrases of Frances Haugen
“The documents I have provided to Congress demonstrate that Facebook has repeatedly misled the public about what its own research reveals on the safety of children, the effectiveness of its artificial intelligence systems, and its role in spreading divisive and extreme messages. “” We can't afford anything less than a total transparency. Facebook wants you to believe that the problems we are talking about are unsolvable. Facebook can change, but clearly it will not do it on its own. “” Companies have 100% control over their algorithms, and Facebook should not have a 'free pass' on what you do to prioritize growth, virality and reactivity over public safety. “” A lot of the things I advocate for is about changing amplification mechanisms, not picking winners and losers in the mer out of ideas. The changes I'm talking about today would not make Facebook unprofitable. It just wouldn't be a ridiculously profitable company. “” I don't think Facebook, with its current structure, has the ability to stop misinformation about vaccines, because it relies too much on artificial intelligence systems that, according to themselves, will never capture more than 10 to 20 percent of the content. “
Frances Haugen's presentation was quite extensive, and many of her concepts were repeated before the senators' consultations. Legislators also took the opportunity to promote their projects of law on privacy and protection of minors on the internet ; in addition, they used the statements of the complainant to contrast them with those of Antigone Davies. It is worth noting that the global head of Security of Facebook was part of the audience of the last week.
What did Facebook say about the audience?
During Frances Haugen's statement, some executives of Facebook took to Twitter to find subtract your sayings. One of them was Andy Stone, communications manager for the social network; In several publications, he mentioned that the complainant did not work on several of the topics discussed at the hearing (which, in fact, Haugen herself also did when faced with certain inquiries).
“Only to point out the fact that Frances Haugen did not work in child safety, nor on Instagram, nor did she investigate these matters, and she has no direct knowledge of the subject from her work on Facebook,” he said in a tweet.
Subsequently, a statement by Lena Pietsch, director of Policy Communications on the social network, began to circulate. Through it, Facebook tried to minimize Haugen's interference during his period in the company , as well as his knowledge of it.
“Today, a Senate Commerce subcommittee held a hearing with a former Facebook product manager who worked less than two years for the company, had no direct reports or never participated in decisive meetings with C-level executives, and who testified more than six times not having worked on the issue in question, “says part of the statement; He adds: “We do not agree with the characterization he made of the many issues he testified about. Despite this, we agree on one thing: it is time to start creating standard rules for the internet.”
Next, Pietsch challenged the senators . “It has been 25 years since the Internet rules were last updated. Instead of waiting for the industry to make social decisions that correspond to legislators, it is time for Congress to act,” he said.
It is clear that this story between Facebook, Frances Haugen and the United States Congress is just beginning. We'll see what the next chapter throws up.
