Facebook’s data scientist turned whistleblower, Frances Haugen testifying before the online safety bill committee, claimed the digital giant, Facebook is “unquestionably making hate worse”.
“Facebook has been unwilling to accept even little slivers of profit being sacrificed for safety” she continued.
Further disclosing the cons of its subsidiary Instagram, Haugen called out the photo sharing application, also calling it as the “more dangerous than other forms of social media”.
While other social media applications are all about sharing mundane problems and posting funny content, “Instagram is about social comparison and about bodies… about people’s lifestyles, and that’s what ends up being worse for kids”.
Haugen also discussed the ongoing issue Facebook is facing regarding keeping a check on content from different languages and holding the offenders accountable post violations.
“UK English is sufficiently different that I would be unsurprised if the safety systems that they developed primarily for American English were actually under-enforcing in the UK,” the whistleblower said.
Further shedding light on the harms Instagram does, she continued “I am deeply worried that it may not be possible to make Instagram safe for a 14-year-old, and I sincerely doubt that it is possible to make it safe for a 10-year-old.”
The UK joint committee announced that it will come up with new duties on the leading social media apps so as to keep a strict check by the media regulator Ofcom.