Former product manager says Facebook hastily turned off safeguards after Biden beat Trump, helping p

[UpInArms]

Source: Associated Press via Marketwatch

Facebook prematurely turned off safeguards designed to thwart misinformation and rabble rousing after Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election in a moneymaking move that a company whistleblower alleges contributed to the deadly Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol.

The whistleblower, former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen, also asserted during an exclusive interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that a 2018 change to the content flow in Facebook’s FB, +1.07% news feeds contributed to more divisiveness and ill will in a network ostensibly created to bring people closer together.

Despite the enmity that the new algorithms were feeding, Facebook found that they helped keep people coming back — a pattern that helped the Menlo Park, Calif., company sell more of the digital ads that generate most of its advertising.

“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” said Haugen, who joined Facebook in 2019 after working at other Silicon Valley companies such as Google GOOGL, +2.14% and Pinterest PINS, +3.28%. “And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.”

Facebook’s annual revenue has more than doubled from $56 billion in 2018 to a projected $119 billion this year, based on the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Meanwhile, the company’s market value has soared from $375 billion at the end of 2018 to nearly $1 trillion now.

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-product-manager-says-facebook-hastily-turned-off-safeguards-after-biden-beat-trump-helping-pave-path-to-deadly-capitol-riot-01633312867?mod=mw_latestnews

[cadoman]

1. Facebook has a huge problem in that its product is only profitable when it's unhealthy

They're basically the big tobacco of mental and social health.

[lagomorph777]

38. That's not their problem.

It's our problem. Time we do something about it.

[orangecrush]

3. KICK

[dalton99a]

4. Zuckerberg is as much a sociopath as Trump.

All he cares about is money.

The soulless ghoul is immune to shame.

[Botany]

15. Facebook and Zuckerberg paid a 5 billion $ fine/penalty for their help in rat fucking the ...

... 2016 elections and I just learned about that a few weeks ago. They helped Cambridge Analytica
who used algorithms to I.D. targeted Facebook users to bath people in Russian produced misinformation
about Hillary Clinton and her emails and "the scandals" of the Clinton Foundation.

I stopped using it in 2007 or so when I dropped somebody who was listed as "a friend" on my page
because he was a little creepy and he asked me why I did that. According to my son he had to have
gone on my page to see that I had dropped him. After that I was done w/Facebook.

[nakocal]

5. A large number of facebook ads are scams

They advertise products that are never mailed.

[C Moon]

10. I also see products of celebrities, bands, albums etc that I'm sure weren't approved by the artists.

I've reported them, but no reply.

[PatSeg]

23. Yes, that appears to happen a lot

I finally gave up ordering anything that is advertised at Facebook, as they cannot be trusted.

[lagomorph777]

39. Pretty much the same as Trump's ads there.

[Karma13612]

6. How much

Money is enuf for these greedy heartless collections of human cells??

[KS Toronado]

12. It's never enough.......

If some greedy bastard owned everything on earth, he'd attempt to buy Heaven & charge admission.

[PatSeg]

24. That was my reaction as well

There is never enough money to satisfy these sociopaths. I can't imagine being that insecure and soulless.

[Farmer-Rick]

25. And the funny thing if they got ALL the money in the world, like they want

All their money would be worthless.

It's because of the rest of us peasants that their money is worth anything at all.

Time for Facebooks monopoly to be broken up.

[TFRD]

7. Yep

I just knew that little wormy bastard was dirty dealing everyone!

[ancianita]

8. More from Techdirt:

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/21/10/04/0133220/facebook-whistleblower-speaks-shares-documents-on-deliberate-lies-and-disregard-of-misinformation-contacts-us-regulators

Haugen says Facebook understood the danger to the 2020 Election. So, it turned on safety systems to reduce misinformation — but many of those changes, she says, were temporary. "And as 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." Facebook says some of the safety systems remained. But, after the election, Facebook was used by some to organize the January 6th insurrection....

After the attack, Facebook employees raged on an internal message board copied by Haugen. "...Haven't we had enough time to figure out how to manage discourse without enabling violence?"

The whistleblower will now appear Tuesday before a U.S. Senate Commerce consumer protection subcommittee — and has already shared some of their documents with Congressional offices probing Facebook, according to the Washington Post. "It's important because Big Tech is at an inflection point," the whistleblower's lawyer tells the newspaper. They argue that ultimately Big Tech "touches every aspect of our lives — whether it's individuals personally or democratic institutions globally. With such far reaching consequences, transparency is critical to oversight.

"And lawful whistleblowing is a critical component of oversight and holding companies accountable."

Members of the Tuesday Senate Commerce Consumer Protection Sub Committee:

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut, Chair.
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota.
Brian Schatz, Hawaii.
Ed Markey, Massachusetts.
Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin.
Ben Ray Luján, New Mexico

While it's good to nail internet platforms, we don't want Trump to twist this into getting off the hook.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. Here's the 60 Minutes interview, including Overtime segments that didn't air on TV:

Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen: The 60 Minutes Interview
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017685122

Frances Haugen says in her time with Facebook she saw, "conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook." Scott Pelley reports. Aired on 10/03/2021.

[Snackshack]

11. Nearly $1 Trillion...

A company that manufactures nothing being valued at nearly $1 Trillion Dollars.

That this is even possible shows just how upside down our economy is. Unreal.

FB is good for keeping in contact will long distance relatives or seeing a friends images of an anniversary or new puppy (All things that can be done by email). Using FB as a source of news is foolish and stupid.

[Beartracks]

35. This right here: "Using FB as a source of news is foolish and stupid."

=============

[lagomorph777]

40. They manufacture chaos.

And they're shipping by the kiloton.

[PortTack]

13. To anyone using FB ...Please please stop using this platform!! Please

[Sherman A1]

22. You do know that DU

Used Facebook……

[lagomorph777]

41. ?? When ??

[Sherman A1]

45. Pretty much everyday

[progressoid]

31. Our local party uses it to organize, GOTV, etc.

Along with Twitter and Instagram.

[Grokenstein]

14. I've only got three Facebook bookmarks

The b'marks are "backup" links in case the main site related to each goes down, so I rarely use them--and I'm still going to ask those four sites for alternatives.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. Profits before Democracy.

Way before.

[Mr. Evil]

17. Right now I'm watching 'The Wolf of Wall Street' on Showtime.

Between Joe Manchin holding this country hostage to protect his and his family's coal interests, this lucky doofus, Mark Zuckerberg, who along with a few buddies turned a would-be dating site into what is now Facebook, TFG and The Wolf himself, Jordan Belfort are (among others just like them) who are willing to destroy everything and anyone just so they can stuff more money into their (known and unknown) bank accounts.

These fucking people are addicts no different than those hooked on heroin or painkillers. With the one exception: they can buy anything AND anyone that can be bought. We have to do everything we did last year and add to it next year. We must add to the House and we absolutely must own the Senate. Or, the only thing this country will have are select enclaves and protections for the new Fascist States of America. We get nothing and lose everything.

[cstanleytech]

18. Oh, I can believe they would do that but........is it a crime?

As far as I know its not unless it can be proven they did it in order to facilitate a crime.

[The Fifty Stateman]

19. Most Destructive Website in the History of the Net

Zuckerberg should be in prison, and the entire sleazy operation shut down.

[Joinfortmill]

20. FB is a mess.

[lagomorph777]

42. No, it's a well-oiled Fascism delivery vehicle.

[Scrivener7]

21. But... there is no other means of human communication I can use to keep up with

the grandkids!!

... and what about my restaurant meal photos???

... and I only talk to my friends. They make no money on me!

[Farmer-Rick]

26. Yup, time to break up the robber baron's Monopoly

If there were competing sites like Facebook, then they wouldn't have so much power. This is what you call monopoly capitalism.

[lagomorph777]

43. People don't understand that even if they block FB ads, they are being sold on the dark web.

Cambridge Analytica is only one of the few examples we've become aware of.

Many others will never be uncovered.

[Scrivener7]

46. Someone ON DU described Cambridge Analytica this way to me:

"They asked Facebook users to take a quiz and then used the answers to target ads to them. Big deal."

I almost cried.

They missed the whole part about CA infiltrating the entire friend list of everyone who answered the quiz, then every one of THEIR friends until they had over 200 million data sets, the vast majority of which were from people who never agreed to give them access. There are only 330 million people in the whole United States. Some of them are children, and others are like me and never used Facebook. That means Facebook gave CA just about every Facebook user's data. Unfettered.

And they missed the part about how the ones designing the messages sent to people were very tightly targeted to manipulate their prejudices and fears, designed by people who had been trained by the military in psy ops. So they were state of the art in psychologically manipulating people, making them paranoid and violent, bringing out their worst.

And all this manipulation was solely for the purpose of electing Donald the Asshole.

And Facebook knew this, helped them, and profited from it.

[lagomorph777]

48. All for the sake of a few grandkid pics that could have been emailed.

It really shakes my faith in humanity. Even Democrats can get taken in by schemes to benefit anti-democratic dark forces. Some are too naive to see beyond that photo of the grandkids, to the dirty engine that served it up. To Putin's minions.

[2Gingersnaps]

27. I kept up with my out of state sister, and a few out of country friends......

but the price became way too high. This company was born of douchebaggery, and it exists in that plane. Funny thing is you can't say "douchebag" or "ratfuck" on Facebook. But you can commit it, THAT is their "community standards." I left it twice, and it was stupid to go back the second time. They can claim all they like that they did not spread Covid disinformation for a year before they pretended to develop a conscious, they can claim they did not ride the tRump Train, they did. They can claim they are not unofficial organizers for the wave of right wing domestic terrorism, they are. They can claim they didn't turn a blind eye to planning for the January 6 insurrection. Bullshit.

On the other hand, I did find out all those pothead hippies I went to school with in the 70's are now burn out trumpanzees and for some odd reason, God fearing Talibangelicals. And Joel Osteen must be damn pissed their new prosperity gospel cult leader is getting all those donations to "save America." Now that champion of human decency and Christian charity, Madison Cawthorn, is getting in on the grift.

[moreland01]

28. If you're still on Facebook . .

You're a part of the problem.

I know, I know, you need to see your grandkids photos and share pics of your dogs/cats. And your bridge club posts their meeting schedules.

That is no excuse for supporting this filth of a website.

[lagomorph777]

44. Even if you think your FB activities are all innocent, and you're not seeing ads,

you're supporting the destruction of America. Your identity and detailed habits are sold on the dark web; advertisers, crooks, and foreign enemies are exploiting you without you even knowing it.

[Johnny2X2X]

29. Facebook and Zuck really don't care

The only safeguards they've haphazardly installed have been installed not because they believe they are needed, but strictly for PR purposes.

Zuck and the rest of the management team don't care when their App is used in genocides or to overthrow Democracies, it's literally not something that gives them even a moment's pause.

If someone went to Zuck and said that FB was going to be used to murder 3 Billion people next year, his first question would be, "OK, but did we make money doing it?" and his 2nd question would be, "Can we contain the bad PR from the murder of 3 billion people so it doesn't affect our power and profits?"

They literally don't care that they are making genocides possible.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

30. Disgusting

[Backseat Driver]

32. Well, today it seems they've turned off everything they own

Facebook, Messaging, Instragram all down around the world for the last hour or so...Any clues to the situation?

[Swede]

33. Zuckerberg, Kurshner, Trump and Thiel had a meeting in October 2020.

I bet it wasn't about football.


https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-hosted-zuckerberg-undisclosed-dinner-white-house-october-n1087986

[dalton99a]

36. +1. "The second meeting between Zuckerberg and Trump in a month"

[Scrivener7]

47. Facebook had a WHOLE TEAM resident in Trump Tower, helping the Trump campaign and

Cambridge Analytica steal the 2016 election in the most efficient possible way.

[ProfessorGAC]

34. That's One Thing I Really Don't Understand

Facebook’s annual revenue has more than doubled from $56 billion in 2018 to a projected $119 billion this year, based on the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Meanwhile, the company’s market value has soared from $375 billion at the end of 2018 to nearly $1 trillion now.

I don't understand how anybody justifies valuing a company's equity at 8-9 times revenue. Particularly for a now, mature company. I have a hard time believing an attempted explanation, no matter how convoluted & complex.

[lagomorph777]

37. Charge Fuckerberg with sedition.