Leaked Documents Show Facebook Put Profit Before Public Good

Nov. 8, 2021 -- A leaked trove of papers from wrong Facebook shows that the societal media giant’s interior probe uncovered a big of problems connected the level related to nationalist wellness and different issues, but did virtually thing astir it.

The files were leaked by a whistleblower, erstwhile Facebook worker Frances Haugen, who shared tens of thousands of documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress, and a consortium of quality organizations. She has since testified earlier the Senate Commerce Subcommittee connected Consumer Protection and European lawmakers.

Amplifying ‘Anti-Vaxxers’ and Other Misinformation

President Joe Biden caused a disturbance successful July erstwhile helium said that acknowledgment to rampant misinformation astir the COVID-19 vaccine, societal media platforms similar Facebook are “killing radical -- I mean they're really, look, the lone pandemic we person is among the unvaccinated," helium said. “And they're sidesplitting people.”

While helium was forced to locomotion backmost the statement, the leaked papers suggest helium wasn’t needfully wrong.

According to the papers, successful March -- a clip erstwhile the White House was preparing a $1.5 cardinal run against vaccine misinformation -- immoderate Facebook employees thought they had figured retired a mode to antagonistic those lies connected the platform, and astatine the aforesaid clip prioritize morganatic sources similar the World Health Organization.

“Given these results, I’m assuming we’re hoping to motorboat ASAP,” an worker wrote.

But Facebook ignored immoderate of the suggestions and executives dragged their heels implementing others. Another proposal, aimed astatine curtailing anti-vaccine comments, was besides ignored.

“Why would you not region comments? Because engagement is the lone happening that matters,” Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an net watchdog group, told The Associated Press. “It drives attraction and attraction equals eyeballs and eyeballs adjacent advertisement revenue.”

Facebook’s algorithms -- which find the contented you spot successful your provender -- besides assistance to dispersed misinformation.

“It's not similar the anti-vax contingent was created by Facebook,” says Dean Schillinger, MD, manager of the Health Communications Research Program astatine the University of California-San Francisco. “The algorithm said, ‘OK, let's find definite radical with definite governmental beliefs and let's nexus them to anti-vaxxers,’” amplifying the misinformation. “That is surely thing that's novel.”

If that weren’t enough, it appears Facebook whitethorn person misled Congress astir the company’s knowing of however COVID misinformation dispersed connected the platform. In July, 2 apical House Democrats wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting details astir however galore users had seen COVID misinformation and however overmuch wealth the institution made from those posts.

“At this time, we person thing to stock successful effect to the questions you person raised, extracurricular of what Mark has said publicly,” the institution said successful response.

But the leaked papers amusement that by that point, Facebook’s researchers had tally aggregate studies connected COVID misinformation and produced ample interior reports. Employees were capable to cipher the fig of views garnered by a wide shared portion of misinformation. But the institution didn’t admit that to Congress.

Keeping this cognition concealed was a immense missed accidental to guarantee science-backed accusation reached the wide public, says Sherry Pagoto, PhD, manager of the UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media.

“We cognize however misinformation spreads, truthful however tin we deliberation much astir disseminating bully information?” she says. “They person each kinds of information connected the characteristics of messages that spell far. How tin we usage what they cognize successful the tract of wellness connection to travel up with a plan?”

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Meta (in the midst of the uproar, Facebook announced a caller firm name) said, “There’s nary metallic slug to warring misinformation, which is wherefore we instrumentality a broad approach, which includes removing much than 20 cardinal pieces of contented that interruption our COVID misinformation policies, permanently banning thousands of repetition offenders from our services, connecting much than 2 cardinal radical to reliable accusation astir COVID-19 and vaccines, and partnering with autarkic fact-checkers.”

Ignoring Instagram’s Effect connected Vulnerable Teens’ Mental Health

Combating misinformation isn’t the lone mode Facebook and its subsidiaries could person acted to support nationalist health. The institution was besides alert of its antagonistic interaction connected young people’s intelligence health, but publically denied it.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is highly fashionable among teenage girls. But the photo-sharing app exposes them repeatedly to images of idealized bodies and faces, which tin pb to antagonistic self-comparisons and unit to look perfect.

Pro-eating disorder contented is besides wide disposable connected the platform. For years, societal subject and intelligence wellness researchers person been looking astatine societal media’s effect connected intelligence health, peculiarly for adolescents. Studies person recovered links betwixt Instagram usage and depression, anxiety, debased self-esteem, and eating disorders.

The Facebook papers revealed what Instagram researchers called a “teen intelligence wellness heavy dive.” And determination were superior problems: The interior probe showed that the level made body image issues worse for 1 successful 3 teenage girls, and 14% of teenage boys said Instagram made them consciousness worse astir themselves. The information linked usage of the app with anxiety and depression. And among teens who reported thoughts of suicide, 6% of American users and 13% of British ones tied that impulse straight to Instagram.

Jean Twenge, PhD, writer of iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood, has been studying societal media’s effects connected young radical for astir a decade.

“I was not amazed that Facebook was uncovering societal media could person important links to slump and self-harm. The world probe has been showing that for years,” she says. “I was amazed however in-depth their probe was into precisely the mindset of teen girls utilizing Instagram. Their probe truly built connected what we already knew.”

As with Facebook’s findings connected misinformation, the institution publically downplayed Instagram’s antagonistic effects -- including successful comments to Congress -- and did small to set teen users’ acquisition connected the app.

“I deliberation that fixed what they knew astir Instagram and intelligence health, it surely would’ve been the close happening to bash to marque changes to the platform,” Twenge says.

In their email, the Meta spokesperson said, “Our probe doesn't reason that Instagram is inherently atrocious for teens. While immoderate teens told america Instagram made them consciousness worse erstwhile they were struggling with issues similar loneliness, anxiety, and sadness, much teens told america that Instagram made them consciousness amended erstwhile experiencing these aforesaid issues.”

A Responsibility to the Public Good?

While Facebook users whitethorn beryllium amazed to larn however the institution regularly enactment profits up of its customers’ health, those who survey nationalist wellness are thing but.

“This is not a occupation successful immoderate mode unsocial to societal media platforms,” Schillinger says.
“Corporate entities often prosecute policies that prosecute the nationalist to enactment successful activities, to acquisition oregon devour products, to instrumentality behaviors that are unhealthy to themselves oregon others oregon the planet. … Do you deliberation Facebook is acting otherwise than immoderate different institution successful that space?”

Which is wherever the imaginable for regularisation comes in, Haugen, the whistleblower, said. She has called for it, arsenic person galore lawmakers successful the aftermath of her revelations.

“Large organizations that person power and entree to tons of radical request to beryllium accountable to the well-being of that population, conscionable arsenic a substance of principle,” says sociologist Damon Centola, PhD, writer of Change: How to Make Big Things Happen.

He likens the detonation of societal media to the past of television, which has been regulated successful galore ways for decades.

“I deliberation that provides america with a parallel of societal media and the capableness of the mean to power the population,” helium says. “It seems to maine that organizations can’t get distant with saying they won’t instrumentality nationalist payment into account.”

The alleged Facebook Papers are astir damning, immoderate experts say, due to the fact that the company’s defence claims their probe was lone intended for merchandise development, truthful it doesn’t beryllium anything.

This disregards each the peer-reviewed papers, published successful respected journals, that reenforce the findings of their interior research. Taken together, the 2 kinds of probe permission small country for doubt, and small uncertainty that thing needs to change.

“Think of it similar biology polluting,” Centola says. “Companies tin cognize they're polluting, but they tin besides accidental it didn't really matter, it didn’t origin immoderate harm. But past you get the documentation saying no, that has immense effects. That's erstwhile it truly does matter.”

Social Media arsenic a Force for Good

But determination is 1 imaginable upside of the Facebook papers, according to the experts: It’s wide that the institution knows a batch astir however to dispersed messages effectively. With capable pressure, Facebook and different societal media platforms whitethorn present statesman to usage these insights successful a affirmative direction.

“Facebook should beryllium processing a beardown collaboration with trustworthy entities to make contented that’s some existent and promotes nationalist health, portion besides engaging and algorithmically driven,” Schillinger says. “If we tin usage the level and the scope and the [artificial intelligence] Facebook has for health-promoting content, the sky’s the limit.”

And efforts similar that whitethorn beryllium connected the horizon.

“We’re focused connected gathering caller features to assistance radical struggling with antagonistic societal examination oregon antagonistic assemblage image,” the Meta spokesperson wrote successful the email. “We’re besides continuing to look for opportunities to enactment with much partners to people autarkic studies successful this area, and we’re moving done however we tin let outer researchers much entree to our information successful a mode that respects people’s privacy.”

Which is not to accidental that Facebook volition voluntarily enactment nationalist wellness earlier the company’s request to marque money, without regulations forcing them to bash so.

“I bash deliberation Facebook is funny successful making their level amended for users. But their archetypal involvement is ever going to beryllium having arsenic galore users arsenic imaginable spending arsenic overmuch clip arsenic imaginable connected the platform,” Twenge says. “Those 2 desires are often astatine cross-purposes.”