Whistle-blower denounces Facebook for bad practices

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Whistle-blower denounces Facebook for bad practices

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6 October 2021

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Washington, Oct 6 (Prensa Latina) Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, denounced the social network giant for privacy abuses, as well as the amplification of harmful content, during a hearing at the US Senate.

Haugen testified in front of an Upper House subcommittee in a hearing called Protecting Kids Online, which is closely related to the investigation Facebook conducted, and dismissed, into the harmful effects of Instagram on the mental health of young users, particularly female users.

The hearing followed the release of documents showing that Facebook knew how harmful its platforms could be.

According to Haugen, the company repeatedly prioritized profits over combating hate speech and misinformation, adding that its lawyers filed at least eight complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The former product manager revealed on the Sunday TV '60 Minutes' show to having leaked documents to The Wall Street Journal for an investigation and the Senate hearing.

She also pointed out to the news outlet that Facebook lied to the public about the progress it made in stopping hate speech and misinformation on its platform, noting that the social network was used to help arrange the violent riots on January 6 on Capitol Hill.

Founded in 2004 by then Harvard University students Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, Facebook is currently the most used social network in the world with 2.7 billion monthly active users. It is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.