A FACEBOOK whistleblower has claimed the tech giant encourages hate speech so it can make a profit.
Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen made the allegations after leaking a large amount of damning internal documents.
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Haugen leaked the Facebook documents to the Wall Street Journal and has made some new shocking claims on the 60 Minutes programme.
Haugen’s identity as the whistleblower was a secret until yesterday’s reveal on national television in the US.
She claims that Facebook is so committed to making a profit that it is embracing algorithms that encourage hate speech.
Haugen explained that hate speech content can keep people engaged and therefore encourages them to be on Facebook for longer.
The longer you’re on Facebook the more likely you are to see more adverts.
Haugen told 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley: “It’s paying for its profits with our safety.”
The former employee used to be a product manager at Facebook assigned to the Civic Integrity group.
When this group was dissolved in 2021 she left the company, claiming that she didn’t “trust that they’re willing to invest what actually needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous.”
“There was conflict… between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” Haugen explained to Pelley, “and Facebook chose over and over again to optimize for its own interests — like making more money.”
One of the internal Facebook research documents leaked by Haugen states: “We have evidence from a variety of sources that hate speech, divisive political speech, and misinformation on Facebook and the family of apps are affecting societies around the world.”
According to Haugen, algorithms that Facebook rolled out in 2018 determine what you see on your news feed and they are meant to encourage engagement.
However, she claims Facebook found the best engagement is the kind that causes fear and hate among users.
She said: “Its easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions.”
Haugen is now calling for more regulation of social networks and will appear before a US Senate Commerce panel tomorrow.
We have reached out to Facebook for comment.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
