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Facebook Security measures designed to curb misinformation and riots were prematurely shut down after Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in last year’s election in a money-making move that a corporate whistleblower claimed contributed to the deadly invasion of the US Capitol on January 6.
whistleblower, ex Facebook product manager Frances Haugen, also claimed in an exclusive interview that aired on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, 2018’s content streaming has changed. Facebook‘s news feeds have contributed to further divisiveness and malice in a network ostensibly created to bring people closer together.
Despite the hostility of the new algorithms, Facebook they discovered they were helping keep people coming back – a model that helps a company called Menlo Park, California sell more than the digital ads that make up most of their advertising.
“What I saw Facebook There have been repeated conflicts of interest between what is good for the public and what is good. Facebook,” said Haugen, who attended Facebook After working at other Silicon Valley companies like Google and Pinterest in 2019. “”And Facebookhas chosen to optimize for its own interests, such as making more money over and over again.”
FacebookThe company’s annual revenue has more than doubled from $56 billion in 2018 to $119 billion this year, according to estimates from analysts surveyed by FactSet. Meanwhile, the company’s market capitalization has grown from $375 billion at the end of 2018 to nearly $1 trillion now.
Even before the full interview aired, a senior Facebook the executive ridiculed the whistleblower’s claims as “misleading.”
“Social media has had a huge impact on society in recent years and Facebook “It’s usually where a lot of this discussion happens,” wrote Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president of policy and public relations. Facebook Employees in a note sent on Friday. “But what existing evidence simply does not support this idea? Facebook, or, more generally, social media is a major cause of polarization.”
“60 Minutes” interview intensifies the already dazzling limelight Facebook As legislators and regulators around the world scrutinize the enormous power of social networks in shaping ideas and their polarizing impact on society.
Reactions have intensified since The Wall Street Journal published a disclosure in mid-September. Facebook‘s own internal research concluded that the social network’s attention-grabbing algorithms helped fuel political opposition and contributed to mental health and emotional problems among teens, especially girls. After copying thousands of pages Facebookinternal research, Haugen He leaked them to the Journal to provide the basis for a series of stories packaged asFacebook Folders.”
Despite Facebook He claimed the Journal had selected the most damaging information in internal documents to illuminate the company in the worst possible way, with the disclosures causing an indefinite delay in the rollout of the kids’ version of the popular photo and video-sharing app Instagram. . Facebook Currently, it requires people to be at least 13 years old to open an Instagram account.
Clegg was already trying to contain the fallout in his 1,500-word memo alert. Facebook Employees said the whistleblower interview could expose them to more difficult questions from family and friends about the frustrating side effects of the social network.
Then Sunday morning, Clegg appeared on CNN’s “Trusted Sources” program in another preemptive attempt to cushion the blow of the “60 Minutes” bomb.
“Even with the most advanced technology I believe we’re using, with the tens of thousands of people we use to try and maintain security and integrity on our platform,” Clegg told CNN, “we certainly will never be on top of that 100% of the time.” He said it was because of his “spontaneous communication style”. Facebook“I think we’ve done more than any reasonable person would expect.”
HaugenThe 37-year-old filed at least eight complaints with US securities regulators. Facebook According to “60 Minutes,” she violated the law by not disclosing the risks posed by her social network. Facebook can take legal action against him if he claims he stole confidential information from the company.
“No one Facebook malicious” Haugen said during the interview. “But incentives are misaligned, right? like, Facebook The more content you consume, the more money you earn. People like to deal with things that evoke an emotional response. And the more anger they are exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume. “
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