Frances Haugen (2022) | Unmasking Facebook

Former Facebook product manager, Frances Haugen did not set out
to be a whistleblower, but when it became a question of saving
lives, she knew it was time to tell the truth. On top of her
concerns about mental health and hate speech, finding out that
the Facebook platform was being used by human traffickers in
Ethiopia tipped the balance.


With almost half the people in the world using Meta’s platforms,
and leadership of the company vigorously denying her accusation
that it values profits over people, Frances Haugen wants to show
us Facebook from the inside, so we can see what it really values.


Frances Haugen is a specialist in algorithmic product management,
having worked on ranking algorithms at Google, Pinterest, Yelp
and Facebook. She was recruited to Facebook to be the lead
Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, which dealt
with issues related to democracy and misinformation, and later
also worked on counter-espionage. During her time at Facebook,
Haugen became increasingly alarmed by the choices the company
makes prioritising their own profits over public safety and
putting people’s lives at risk. As a last resort and at great
personal risk, Frances made the courageous decision to blow the
whistle on Facebook. Haugen fundamentally believes that the
problems we are facing today with social media are
solvable.