4 takeaways from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s testimony : NPR | #socialmedia | #education | #technology | #infosec

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Former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Alex Brandon/AP

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Alex Brandon/AP

Former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Alex Brandon/AP

Facebook is facing a historic crisis.

Revelations brought to light from whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook, has led to what may be the most threatening scandal in the company’s history.

The pressure was turned up on Tuesday, when Haugen testified before a Senate subcommittee. She provided a clear and detailed glimpse inside the notoriously secretive tech giant. She said Facebook harms children, sows division and undermines democracy in pursuit of breakneck growth and “astronomical profits.”

Past controversies over Facebook’s role in Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election and the social network’s lax handling of user data in the Cambridge Analytica case were crises that rocked the company and spurred internal reform.

But the fury that Haugen’s revelations have set off is different. Here are four reasons why.

Haugen was an insider, making her a powerful critic

Haugen worked at Facebook for nearly two years after stints at Google, Yelp and Pinterest.

At Facebook, she studied how the social network’s algorithm amplified misinformation and was exploited by foreign adversaries.



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