Facebook identifies whistleblowers with conflicting motives
CBS has identified the former employee as Frances Hougen, an algorithm design expert who worked on Facebook's Civil Integrity team prior to its dissolution in the wake of the 2020 US election. According to information shared by Haugen, Facebook intentionally avoided taking stronger action to address the worst aspects of its platform due to of the effects that such moves can have on usage, and thus profits. Facebook has
refuted Haugen's claims, but her comments are in line with what several previous reports have suggested, underlining major concerns about the social effects of Zuckerberg's social giant. Haugen's main contention is that Facebook has ignored or downplayed related findings, based on its own research, in favor of maintaining usage and user engagement.
| “The thing I’ve seen on Facebook over and over is there is a conflict of interest between what is good for the public and what is good for Facebook. And Facebook has, time and time again, chosen to improve in its own interests, such as making more money. Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. And people enjoy interacting with things that elicit an emotional response. The more anger they experience, the more they interact and consume.” |
Facebook - at the top - is about money and control/power. Admitting design flaws isn't something Zuckerberg ever does or does unless he's under pressure.
However, FB is a great platform to keep up with the activities of family and friends, find interesting information, and advertise. IMO, it's time to remove liability protection from social media. Being responsible for what you allow on your platform or what you specify on your platform has a way of improving the quality/ethical standards and fairness of your platform.
I use Facebook except for connections to family/friend pages. I think adults should be wise enough to filter out the information they find (although many don't seem to be) - but I am convinced that unrestricted access to social media is really bad for kids/teens.
The whistleblower stories are interesting because they are what some have said all along - profit/influence people. Is this really surprising?
See also the
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