Facebook 'chooses profit over safety'
The whistleblower who shared a trove of Facebook documents alleging the social media giant knew its products were fueling hate and harming children's mental health revealed her identity on Sunday in a televised interview, and accused the company of choosing "profit over safety."
Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old data scientist from Iowa, has worked for companies including Google and Pinterest -- but said in an interview with CBS news show 60 Minutes that Facebook was "substantially worse" than anything she had seen before.
She called for the company to be regulated. "Facebook over and over again has shown it chooses profit over safety. It is subsidising, it is paying for its profits with our safety.
"The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world."
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In the 60 Minutes interview Haugen explained how the company's News Feed algorithm is optimised for content that gets a reaction.
"The company's own research shows that it is easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions," Haugen said.
"Facebook has realised that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they'll click on less ads, they'll make less money."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... ver-safety
). Add snapchat and tiktok, too.
