Whistleblower: ‘Almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside Facebook’

By Samantha Murphy Kelly and Seth Fiegerman, CNN Business

Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents, said the social media company could “destroy” her for speaking out, but she believed that “as long as Facebook is operating in the dark, it is accountable to no one.”

In her prepared testimony obtained by CNN on Monday ahead of her Tuesday appearance before the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, Haugen said, “I believe what I did was right and necessary for the common good — but I know Facebook has infinite resources, which it could use to destroy me.”

Haugen added: “I came forward because I recognized a frightening truth: almost no one outside of Facebook knows what happens inside Facebook.”

Facebook declined to comment Monday.

The 37-year-old former Facebook product manager who worked on civic integrity issues at the company revealed her identity during a “60 Minutes” segment that aired Sunday night. In that segment, she said the documents show that Facebook knows its platforms are used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, and that the company has tried to hide that evidence.

Facebook pushed back against the “60 Minutes” report.

“Every day our teams have to balance protecting the ability of billions of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place,” Facebook spokesperson Lena Pietsch said in a statement to CNN Business immediately following the “60 Minutes” interview. “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.”

Haugen started at Facebook in 2019 after previously working for other tech giants, including Google and Pinterest.

“When we realized tobacco companies were hiding the harms it caused, the government took action,” Haugen says in the prepared remarks. “When we figured out cars were safer with seat belts, the government took action. And today, the government is taking action against companies that hid evidence on opioids. I implore you to do the same here.”

– Clare Duffy and Donie O’Sullivan contributed to this report

The-CNN-Wire
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