Frances Haugen, former Facebook employee, has put the company against the ropes with his testimony of this Tuesday before a Senate Subcommittee, where he has denounced that the firm pretends the benefit to the safety of users, despite the great cost
Personal that fears that you can assume you.
For its part, several Facebook executives have come out in Tromba to try to discredit Haugen and have denied that things in the company occur in the way she has described.
On its website, this 37-year-old Iowa woman is defined as “advocate public control of social media”, but as she has said before the Subcommittee on consumer protection, product and data data security
High, it is not against the networks.
In fact, Haugen has assured that he believes in Facebook’s potential and that social networks can contribute to connecting people without democracy, or putting minors in danger or instigating ethnic violence in the world.
This degree in Computer and Electric Engineering in Olin College and with a Master in Business Administration at the prestigious University of Harvard details on its website that its area of specialization is the management of algorithms to sell products.
And gives a clue on the reason for having dared to uncover the practices of the technological giant: when it was little I was going with their parents, both teachers, to the Caucus of Iowa, which inculciated “a strong sense of pride for democracy and responsibility
Towards civic participation. ”
In a statement, one of Facebook’s political communication directors, Lena Pietsch, has expressed that since the firm they do not agree with the description that Haugen did before the Senate and has tried to discredit his version by pointing that the informant only worked
on Facebook for two years.
“He only worked on Facebook for two years, he had no employee at his charge; he never attended a meeting with senior managers in which decisions were made and he herself testified on more than six occasions not having worked on the topics of which
He spoke, “said Pietsch.
In a similar line, another one of the company’s political communication directors has been expressed on Twitter, Andy Stone, who has indicated that Haugen “did not work on children’s safety issues or Instagram or research on these issues” and that therefore
“It has no direct knowledge” of the question.
Hugen began working in 2019 on Facebook as a product manager, but he said he decided to leave the company before the misinformation he saw after the US elections last November, which led to the assault on the Capitol in January by followers of the then president
, Donald Trump.
In fact, Haugen played his work in the civic disinformation unit, which was dismantled by the company after those elections.
“I joined Facebook because someone close to me was radicalized on the internet, I felt obliged to adopt an active role to create a better, less toxic facebook,” Haugen said, who has also worked in Pinterest, Yelp and Google
.
However, over the next two years he began to alarmed by the firm’s decisions to prioritize his “own public safety”, which, in his opinion, put the lives of people in danger.
In fact, Haugen has stressed that Facebook platforms, who owns whatsapp and Instagram, are harmful to minors, foster social division and weaken democracy;
And the firm itself knows it based on their own studies, he adds.
Therefore, and knowingly of the possible personal cost that he was going to assume, the Engineer affirms that he decided to make public the supposed practices of the company.
“I have taken a step forward at the expense of a great personal risk because I think it’s time to act,” Haugen said before the Senate Subcommittee, where the legislators promised him that they will do everything possible to protect and avoid any revenge or legal action against
she.
A month ago, Haugen presented eight complaints against Facebook before the United States Securities Market Commission, alleging that the firm hides information to its investors and its users about the investigations made by the company itself
About the problems on your platforms.
This expert has also filtered documents to the Wall Street Journal, which in recent days has published a series of articles where it explains that Facebook knows the problems that generate their platforms, such as the effects of misinformation and instagram harm can cause to
Minors.
After these revelations, the future of this woman is uncertain although you can track the fact that you have opened an account in Gofundme to collect funds to travel to Europe to speak with legislators and regulators.