Meta has made some changes in the past year since tech whistleblower Frances Haugen’s revelation, but Haugen doesn’t think it’s done enough.
“They really haven’t learned the right lesson,” Haugen said at Vox Media’s Code Conference on Tuesday.
Haugen, a former product manager at Meta (previously known as Facebook), said last fall that he knew more than the company would let go about the harm its products could do to society. He made headlines by leaking a huge amount of suggestive internal documents.
One of the most controversial documents in Haugen’s leak was an internal Instagram investigation that showed the app negatively impacted the mental health of some teenagers. A survey found that about 13% of teens in the UK and 6% of her teens in the US linked Instagram with suicidal thoughts.
Since then, social media and child laws have been passed or proposed, and Instagram has introduced parental controls. This is “meaningful change”. But Meta is also “further dissolving” its commitment to electoral integrity and “decreasing its investment” in responsible AI, Haugen said.
“People have been warning Facebook for years that if you hide the dirty laundry, it will eventually be aired and it will be worse than making a fuss about it now.” She said. Meta has not acknowledged its role in the world or the internet and has not stepped up to become a more responsible steward, Haugen said, adding, “They haven’t learned that lesson yet.” I think,” he added.
Haugen put much of that responsibility at the feet of the person who rules the meta more than anyone else: its CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and the “echo chamber” around him.
“They haven’t yet acknowledged that the way they do business is the source of the problem,” says Haugen. “Because Mark doesn’t take accountability, he can surround himself with people telling stories like ‘You’re the victim here.’ And reality never has to affect the outcome.”
Hogen wants Zuckerberg to have less control over her company, and her “personal fantasy” is that the Securities and Exchange Commission will use its powers to force Zuckerberg to control him. to force them to sell part of their shares.
“Then we can have normal corporate oversight processes in place,” she said.
Haugen did show some sympathy for Zuckerberg, but said he sympathized with him because he was generally disliked and he knew he was disliked. Wrapped up. She also gave suggestions on how he could fix it.
“Is there anything else you can do with your life?” she asked.
