The Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has taken to his Facebook page to respond to series of negative statements and accusations against the company, especially allegation that its priority is profit rather than safety of users, especially children.
This came as a response to the whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, who testified in a senate hearing about her experience at Facebook where she alleged that the company prioritized profit over other considerations while stoking division.
Two court hearings in the past week focused on Facebook’s impact on teens and young children, as well as Haugen’s testimony.
Part of Zuckerberg’s defence was that a few years back, the company changed its news feed algorithm to show more posts from friends and family because the company knew that people would spend less time on the service. He stated further that when it comes to young people’s health or well-being, every negative experience matters, and this is the reason why the company is building a version of Instagram for children.
Facebook’s attempt to undermine the whistle-blower was to portray Haugen as a low-level employee who doesn’t know what she is talking about. But that strategy seems to be backfiring as another former employee has taken to his Twitter account to respond to Facebook.
Samidh Chakrabarti was head of Civic Engagement at Facebook and was put forward by the company to sensitise the public about its good works.
Chakrabarti said on his Twitter account that he was with Facebook for over 6years and he finds the perspectives shared on the need for algorithmic regulations, research transparency, and independent oversight to be entirely valid for debate.
