Facebook’s internal racial justice chat indicates that the company prioritized politics in its decision making.
It is the News Tab that has caused controversy. Facebook’s News Tab aggregates news articles from various outlets and presents them to users within the app and on desktop. Facebook workers worked hard to shape the story on political topics like the Jan.6 riot, according to internal chats.
Breibart was targeted by some employees. “Get Breitbart out of News Tab,” one message read.
“My argument is that allowing Breibart to monetize through us is, in fact, a political statement,” another message added. “It is an acceptance of extreme, hateful and often false news used to propagate fear, racism and bigotry. On a daily basis, it publishes articles that I believe insult our values as a company.”
“The fact that we have a partner manager program for misinformation escalations at all is disheartening to me,” yet another message continued.
The leaked information seems to be the beginning of Facebook’s woes. CNN Business detailed the explosive “Facebook Papers” describing internal decisions:
“On Friday, a consortium of 17 US news organizations began publishing a series of stories — collectively called “The Facebook Papers” — based on a trove of hundreds of internal company documents which were included in disclosures made to the Securities and Exchange Commission and provided to Congress in redacted form by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s legal counsel.”
Platform was attacked by political leaders from every political spectrum.
“Facebook Facebook has privileged lies, damaged our democracy, and worsened divisions in our societyThis is a… knowingly, for profit,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted.
“The Facebook Papers reports illustrate that Big Tech and Legacy Media companies are not just hysterically anti-conservative—they are against any idea that doesn’t fit their narrative,” Kevin McCarthy, GOP House Minority Leader, tweeted. “What they are doing is a particularly dangerous practice of misinformation.”
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said the company’s issues stem from understaffing because the company is unwilling to “accept responsibility.”
Haugen stated that Facebook is very thinly-staffed. This is due to a number of technologists who look at Facebook’s past and refuse to take responsibility. People are not willing to work for Facebook. They must make deliberate choices about what gets done and not get accomplished.
Facebook denies any internal issues.
CNN was told by a spokesperson from Facebook that “At heart of these stories lies a false premise.” While we are indeed a company and can make profit, the notion that we do this at the expense or safety of others is not true. This is where our commercial interests lie.
The platform said it has taken sufficient efforts to combat “misinformation” online.
Facebook claimed that they had also removed over 150 networks trying to control public discourse since 2017. These were located in more than 50 countries and most originated from outside the US. Our track record indicates that we use the same level of intensity in combating abuses outside the US as we do inside the US.
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