A Facebook Inc (FB.O) whistleblower said her lawyers have filed at least eight complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, accusing the social media giant of persistently prioritizing profit over cracking down on hate speech and misinformation.
Frances Haugen, a product manager on Facebook’s civic misinformation team, appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, revealing her identity as the whistleblower who provided the evidence that backed up a Wall Street Journal report and a Senate hearing on Instagram’s harm to underage girls.
 Journal published a series of stories based on internal Facebook presentations and emails that showed Facebook contributed to increased polarisation online when it changed its content algorithm, failed to take steps to reduce vaccine hesitancy, and was aware that Instagram harmed the mental health of teenage girls. On Tuesday, Haugen will speak before a Senate subcommittee regarding the company’s research into Instagram’s impact on young users at a hearing titled “Protecting Kids Online.”
“There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” she said during the interview. “And Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests like making more money.”
Haugen, who has also worked at Google and Pinterest, claims that Facebook has misled the public about its progress in combating hate speech and misinformation on its platform. She went on to say that Facebook was used to help coordinate the Capitol violence on January 6, following the company’s decision to turn off safety mechanisms following the presidential election in the United States. While she did not feel anyone at Facebook was “malevolent,” she did believe the company’s incentives were misaligned.
Following the aired conversation, Facebook issued a statement contradicting Haugen’s points. Facebook spokesman Lena Pietsch said, “We continue to make substantial changes to combat the spread of misinformation and dangerous content.” “It’s simply not correct to say that we encourage terrible stuff and do nothing.” Prior to the 60 Minutes interview, Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg claimed on CNN that claiming that Jan. 6 was caused by social media was “ludicrous.”
