Algorithm Specialist Frances Haugen outed herself as Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) whistleblower this Sunday and quickly found herself before the Senate on Tuesday answering questions relating to the now-infamous "Facebook Files" expose.
I wrote not too long ago about the public relations and regulatory nightmare Facebook faced because of the Wall Street Journal's damning expose. The company's leaked research was damning, as was its antipathetic attitude and unwillingness to act on it. Haugen's personal experiences amid this, as told through her appearance on 60 Minutes and her Senate testimony, essentially double the intensity of that nightmare.
At the core of Facebook's issues, according to Haugen, is the algorithm that drives the company's flagship platform. The algorithm functions to keep users on the site by shunting posts that generating "meaningful social interactions" ahead of others; essentially, the more likes and comments, the more 'attractive' a post is to the algorithm. Another layer on top of this is a form of engagement-based ranking that attempts to prioritize content that users will find the most intriguing and elicit the strongest reaction. However, as Facebook's own staff warned, this resulted in controversial and toxic content being pushed on users.
To make matters worse, content moderation and "policing" of the platform is heavily focused on English-speaking users. The AI used by the company only understands a fraction of the languages spoken by users, leaving large swaths of the site largely devoid of moderation. Because of this, Facebook has repeatedly found itself significantly contributing to violence across the world. Where the platform was accessible, ideological and, ethnic-driven vitriol followed.
"My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today are only the beginning. What we saw in Myanmar and now in Ethiopia are the opening chapters of a story so terrifying no one wants to read the end of it," Haugen told the Senate.
According to Haugen, despite its awareness of the platform's use by bad actors, the company's counterespionage, information operations, and terrorism teams remain consistently understaffed.