Haugen claimed Facebook turned off \u2018safeguards\u2019 designed to stop the proliferation of misinformation and rabble-rousing after Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the November 2020 presidential election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That saw political content given a lower priority on users\u2019 news feeds in the run-up to the poll \u2013 only for executives to reverse course on realizing the change was turning users off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen, who is due to testify in Congress Tuesday about Facebook\u2019s alleged impact on its younger users, also claimed that decision directly-contributed to the violence at the US Capitol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018As 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,\u2019 Haugen stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen, whose leaks formed The Wall Street Journal\u2019s \u2018Facebook Files\u2019 series, also said that Facebook\u2019s algorithms \u2013 mathematical formulae that help decide which information is most visible on users\u2019 feeds \u2013 favored hateful content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She claimed that a 2018 change prioritizing divisive posts which made Facebook users argue was found to boost user engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That in turn helped bosses sell more online adverts that have seen the social media giant\u2019s value creep close to $1 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen said: \u2018You are forcing us to take positions that we don\u2019t like, that we know are bad for society. We know if we don\u2019t take those positions, we won\u2019t win in the marketplace of social media,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive, who worked at Google and Pinterest before joining Facebook in 2019, said the scales fell from her eyes after the firm dissolved a unit on civic integrity she\u2019d been working in after the 2020 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She explained: \u2018I don\u2019t trust that they\u2019re willing to actually invest what needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world,\u2019 Haugen added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After realizing she could no longer trust her company to protect the public, Haugen secretly copied tens of thousands of Facebook internal research which she claims is evidence that \u2018the company is lying to the public about making significant progress against hate, violence and misinformation.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We have evidence from a variety of sources that hate speech, divisive political speech and misinformation on Facebook and the family of apps are affecting societies around the world,\u2019 the complaint reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen claimed that Facebook\u2019s \u2018evidence of harm\u2019 extended to its Instagram app, commenting on a study that showed teen girls said the social network site worsened thoughts of suicide and eating disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018What\u2019s super tragic is Facebook\u2019s own research says, as these young women begin to consume this \u2014 this eating disorder content, they get more and more depressed. And it actually makes them use the app more,\u2019 Haugen explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And so, they end up in this feedback cycle where they hate their bodies more and more. Facebook\u2019s own research says it is not just the Instagram is dangerous for teenagers, that it harms teenagers, it\u2019s that it is distinctly worse than other forms of social media.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No one at Facebook is malevolent,\u2019 Haugen said. Mark Zuckerberg \u2018has never set out to make a hateful platform,\u2019 she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, she says that they have decided the balance sheet is more important than ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen said the social network proved it could make a positive change when it altered content policies for several weeks surrounding the 2020 election, by deprioritizing political content in its Newsfeed algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But she claims that the company swiftly reverted to its old models when it realized that engagement in adverts had plummeted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they\u2019ll click on less ads, and [Facebook] will make less money,\u2019 Haugen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haugen\u2019s lawyers filed at least eight complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining her findings and comparing them with the company\u2019s public statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SEC did not confirm to 60 Minutes if they plan to take action against Facebook. DailyMail.com has also reached out to the organization for comment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook, however, did released a statement in response to the allegations: \u2018Every day our teams have to balance protecting the right of billions of people to express themselves openly with the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018We continue to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content. To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facebook head of global affairs Nick Clegg, appearing on CNN <\/a>Sunday morning, also called the allegations that the social media giant is responsible for the Capitol riot \u2018ludicrous.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The responsibility for the violence on January the 6th and the insurrection on that day lies squarely with the people who inflicted the violence and those who encouraged them, including then-President Trump and candidly many other people in the media who were encouraging the assertion that the election was stolen,\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, a congressional panel will hear Haugen\u2019s testimony on Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is a member of the panel, told the Washington Post<\/a> that the SEC should take Haugen\u2019s allegations that Facebook may have mislead investors \u2018very seriously\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Facebook certainly misled and deceived the public, and so their investors may well have been deceived as well,\u2019 Blumenthal said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawmakers will also investigate if Facebook\u2019s products are harmful to children and whether or not the social media company undermined its safety efforts by disbanding its civic integrity team, as Haugen has alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The social media giant confirmed that Antigone Davis, its global head of safety, would also testify before the Senate Commerce Committee Consumer protection panel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Haugen\u2019s allegations have caused a headache for Facebook in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n