San Francisco | Facebook was aware of the intensification of many users and the flood of misinformation about the 2020 US presidential election, but the whistleblower obtained from various American newspapers did not act accordingly, according to documents by Francis Hawken.
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These revelations are the latest in a long series, published by First Wave Investigations The Wall Street Journal Thanks for the internal reports sent by this former employee of the California team in September.
Friday, Articles New York Times, In Washington Post Or the NBC channel, which focused on Facebook’s role in the extreme polarization of political life in the United States.
In early November, just days after the poll, one analyst told his colleagues that 10% of the political content viewed by American users on the platform had been confirmed as fraudulent votes. New York Times.
This unsubstantiated rumor, purged by former President Donald Trump, provoked the wrath of many conservatives and conspirators, culminating in the January 6 Capitol riots.
Supporters of the Republican billionaire occupied Congress that day during the certification of the victory of Democrat Joe Biden. Five people were killed during or shortly after the attack.
In the process, Facebook, Twitter and other major platforms, like Donald Trump, banned extremist movements involved in the riots.
But according to new revelations released Friday, California team staff believe the issue could have been better anticipated.
“Caroline’s Journey”
This information was taken by Francis Hougen from thousands of internal documents submitted to the Stock Exchange Commission SEC.
In early October, he reiterated in front of U.S. senators, led by company leaders, led by Mark Zuckerberg, “Fund our security for their profits.”
She has previously leaked studies on Instagram showing that Facebook is aware of the psychological problems of teenage girls who over-expose the bodies of “perfect” lifestyles and influencers.
The common thread of these revelations is this: social media companies know the problems, but often, ignore them, according to Whistleblower and other anonymous sources.
Friday’s articles refer to a report entitled “Caroline’s Journey to QAnon”.
Carol Smith, a fake account created by a researcher who is “a conservative mother from North Carolina”, was paid via Facebook to explore the platform’s role in user polarization.
According to this analyst, since the summer of 2019, Carol Smith has been exposed by the social network’s algorithm to “serious, intriguing and shocking content” including groups of the QAnon movement.
Security
Faced with these new waves of criticism, Facebook released a statement recalling its significant investments in cleaning up its sites and supporting the democratic process.
“But those responsible for the insurgency were those who violated the law and incited them to do so,” said Guy Rosen, deputy chairman of the Civil Integrity Committee.
This security has no chance to satisfy the united elected authorities against the social network.
Especially since the flood of revelations has not stopped: a consortium of ten newspaper companies from CNN to the World is preparing to publish articles based on these documents, according to a special site called The Information.
And a new whistleblower has appeared, according to an article Washington Post Appeared Friday.
A former member of the Civic Integrity Team, he filed a report with the SEC on October 13 accusing Facebook of putting profits above human issues.
In this document, the former employee described specific comments in 2017, when the company decided on the best way to manage the controversy surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 US presidential election.
“It will be a flash in the pan. The elected officials will mourn. In a few weeks, they will move on. In the meantime, we are printing money in the basement, everything is fine,” said Tucker Pounds, a member of the Facebook communications team.
As stated in it Washington Post, Second Whistleblower assures in his testimony that Facebook executives continue to undermine efforts to combat misinformation and hate speech for fear of the wrath of Donald Trump and his allies, and that there is no risk of losing users’ attention.
“Prone to fits of apathy. Introvert. Award-winning internet evangelist. Extreme beer expert.”
