During the last two months, tech giant company Facebook has been under fire for misinformation allegations, tolerating hate speech and biased strategies, as a whistleblower and top officials have been called to testify in front of Congress following the release of leaked internal research and documents that shed new light on the inner workings of the company.
A consortium of 17 US news organizations has reviewed the redacted versions of the documents, which Facebook (FB) whistleblower Frances Haugen provided to Congress.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued a 1,300-word statement suggesting that the documents are cherry-picked to present a misleading narrative about the company.
The documents present an analysis conducted after the January 6th US Capitol Hill riots, suggesting Facebook could have done more to stop the spread of the “Stop the Steal” movement, which played a pivotal role in the riots.
Additionally, leaked comments from some Facebook employees on January 6 suggest the company might have had some culpability in what happened by not moving more quickly to halt the growth of Stop the Steal groups.
In response to these documents, a Facebook spokesperson told CNN, “The responsibility for the violence that occurred on January 6 lies with those who attacked our Capitol and those who encouraged them.”
Internal Facebook documents shared as part of Haugen’s disclosures revealed Facebook’s language blind spots around the globe that allow hate speech to flourish.
The tech giant company’s ability to prevent hate speech and misinformation in countries such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, India, Ethiopia and much of the Middle East, where coverage of many local languages is inadequate.
The documents also indicate that Facebook knew its existing strategies were insufficient to curb the spread of posts inciting violence in countries “at-risk” of conflict, says CNN.
This is not the first time concerns have been raised about Facebook’s role in the promotion of violence and hate speech.
The company has already acknowledged in 2018 that it didn’t do enough to prevent its platform from being used to fuel bloodshed, after the United Nations criticized Facebook’s role in the Myanmar crisis in 2018, as Zuckerberg promised to increase Facebook’s moderation efforts.
According to the new documents, Facebook has actively worked to expand the size of its young adult audience even as internal research suggests its platforms, particularly Instagram, can have a negative effect on their mental health and well-being.
Facebook’s internal research, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, claims Facebook’s platforms “make body image issues worse for 1 in 3 teen girls.” Its research also found that “13.5% of teen girls on Instagram say the platform makes thoughts of ‘Suicide and Self Injury’ worse” and 17% say the platform, which Facebook owns, makes “Eating Issues” such as anorexia worse.
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