Facebook Papers: Whistleblower’s concerns widespread

Coalitions of American and European newspapers collaborated to access and release thousands of internal documents leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen. News outlets began to publish their investigations on Monday as Haugen testified before a U.K. Parliament committee on the company’s safety practices. The United Kingdom is working on online safety regulations that would create a regulator over social media companies and could fine up to 10 percent of their global revenue for violations. Haugen’s statement repeated much of the same information from a U.S. House subcommittee hearing last month. A second anonymous whistleblower submitted a complaint to the Securities Exchange Commission similar to Haugen’s over the weekend.

What are the allegations? Haugen said Facebook’s algorithm favors hateful content because it increases user interaction. The Facebook Papers reveal messages from employees on the company’s internal messaging platform who accused the platform of inciting violence and fostering social media addiction. Haugen also said understaffing, a weak chain of command, and lack of resources created national security issues by leaving misinformation and hate speech unchecked. Facebook officials have denied the allegations.

Dig deeper: Read Anna Timmis’ report in Relations on pushback against Facebook’s plan to create an Instagram app for kids.