JUST IN: Facebook Whistleblower Will Reportedly Meet With January 6 Committee
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is reportedly going to meet with the January 6 committee.
CNN broke news Wednesday that Haugen will speak with the committee as soon as Thursday.
News: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who released docs she says show company knows platforms are used to spread hate, violence & misinfo, is expected to meet w/ Jan. 6 committee as soon as tomorrow, sources tell me, @PamelaBrownCNN, @AnnieGrayerCNN, @donie & @ryanobles.
— Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) October 6, 2021
NEW: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is expected to meet tomorrow with the 1/6 Select Committee. They are hoping she can provide insight into how the platform may have used to facilitate violence on that day.
w/ @PamelaBrownCNN @ZcohenCNN @AnnieGrayerCNN & @donie
STORY TK— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) October 6, 2021
Haugen has made a number of serious claims about Facebook prioritizing profits over safety. Some of the social media giant’s internal research was leaked by Haugen to The Wall Street Journal, and she testified before Congress earlier this week.
During her 60 Minutes interview, Haugen told Scott Pelley, “And as soon as the election was over, they turned them back off or they changed the settings back to what they were before to prioritize growth over safety. And that really feels like a betrayal of democracy to me.”
Haugen shared screenshots from an internal message board after January 6, with employees saying things like “Haven’t we had enough time to figure out how to manage discourse without enabling violence?” and “We have been watching… wishy-washy actions of company leadership for years now. Colleagues… cannot conscience working for a company that does not do more to mitigate the negative effects of its platform.”
Haugen explained, “No one at Facebook is malevolent, but the incentives are misaligned, right? Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction and the more anger that they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume.”
Facebook is one of the many companies the committee has requested records from. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy responded with a veiled threat to telecoms and social media platforms not to comply, because “a Republican majority will not forget” if they do.
