Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen gave explosive testimony before a Senate panel Tuesday, denouncing the social media giant for prioritizing “astronomical profits” over the safety of billions of users. Haugen’s testimony gave a rare glimpse into the secretive tech company, which she accused of harming children, sowing division by boosting hateful content, and undermining democracy. Haugen urged lawmakers to enact strict oversight over Facebook before it’s too late. This is Frances Haugen.
Frances Haugen: “Facebook wants you to believe that the problems we’re talking about are unsolvable. They want you to believe in false choices. They want you to believe that you must choose between a Facebook full of divisive and extreme content or losing one of the most important values our country was founded upon, free speech; that you must choose between public oversight of Facebook’s choices and your personal privacy; that to be able to share fun photos of your kids with old friends, you must also be inundated with anger-driven virality. They want you to believe that this is just part of the deal. I am here today to tell you that’s not true.”
Haugen’s testimony comes after she leaked tens of thousands of pages of internal Facebook documents.