Last of a three parts
The previous part is at https://thevoice.us/facebook-prioritized-growth-over-safety-60-minute
Frances Haugen said in her time with Facebook she saw, “conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook.” Scott Pelley reported on a recent CBS 60 Minutes television show Frances Haugen quit Facebook because of polarizing information and its failure to control divisive content. Her discussion with CBS continues this week. Last week Haugen cited Facebook prioritized growth over safety.
“Mark Zuckerberg testimony on March 25:
“‘We have removed content that could lead to imminent real-world harm. We have built an unprecedented third-party fact checking program. The system isn’t perfect. But it is the best approach that we have found to address misinformation in line with our country’s values.’
“One of Frances Haugen’s lawyers, is John Tye. He’s the founder of a Washington legal group, called ‘Whistleblower Aid.’
“Scott Pelley: ‘What is the legal theory behind going to the SEC? What laws are you alleging have been broken?’
“John Tye: ‘As a publicly-traded company, Facebook is required to not lie to its investors or even withhold material information. So, the SEC regularly brings enforcement actions, alleging that companies like Facebook and others are making material misstatements and omissions that affect investors adversely.
“Scott Pelley: ‘One of the things that Facebook might allege is that she stole company documents.’
“John Tye: ‘The Dodd-Frank Act, passed over 10 years ago at this point, created an Office of the Whistleblower inside the SEC. And one of the provisions of that law says that no company can prohibit its employees from communicating with the SEC and sharing internal corporate documents with the SEC.’
“Frances Haugen: ‘I have a lot of empathy for Mark. and Mark has never set out to make a hateful platform. But he has allowed choices to be made where the side effects of those choices are that hateful, polarizing, content gets more distribution and more reach.’
“In a statement to 60 Minutes it said, ‘every day our teams have to balance protecting the right of billions of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place. We continue to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content. To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true.’
‘”If any research had identified an exact solution to these complex challenges, the tech industry, governments, and society would have solved them a long time ago.’
‘“Facebook is a $1 trillion company. Just 17 years old, it has 2.8 billion users, which is 60% of all internet-connected people on Earth. Frances Haugen plans to testify before Congress. She believes the federal government should impose regulations.
“Frances Haugen: ‘Facebook has demonstrated they cannot act independently. Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety. It is subsidizing, it is paying for its profits with our safety. I’m hoping that this will have had a big enough impact on the world that they get the fortitude and the motivation to actually go put those regulations into place. That’s my hope.’
“Produced by Maria Gavrilovic and Alex Ortiz. Broadcast associate, Michelle Karim. Edited by Michael Mongulla.”