Facebook response to 60 Minutes report, “The Facebook Whistleblower”



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Lena Pietsch, Facebook’s director of political communications, responded to the 60 Minutes report, “The Facebook Whistleblower,” with the following statements on behalf of the social media company:

“Every day, our teams must strike a balance between protecting the right of billions of people to speak out, and the need to keep our platform a safe and positive place. We continue to make significant improvements to combat the spread of disinformation and harmful content. we encourage bad content and doing nothing is just not true. “

On the claim that internal research has shown the company is not doing enough to stamp out hate, misinformation and conspiracy:

“We have invested heavily in people and technology to keep our platform secure, and have made tackling disinformation and providing authoritative information a priority. If research had identified an exact solution to these complex challenges, the technology industry, governments and society would have solved them a long time ago. experts and organizations, to inform about changes to our applications.

On the claim that incentives within Facebook are misaligned and the desire for platform engagement and profit trumps safety in some cases:

“Hosting hateful or harmful content is bad for our community, bad for advertisers, and ultimately bad for our business. Our motivation is to provide a safe and positive experience for the billions of people who use Facebook. This is why we have invested so heavily in safety and security. “

On the claim that the change in “Meaningful Social Interactions” in 2018 amplified polarizing and hateful content:

“The goal of changing the ranking of meaningful social interactions is in the name: to improve people’s experience by prioritizing posts that inspire interactions, especially conversations, between family and friends – what the research is. shows that it’s better for the well-being of people – and by deprioritizing public content. Research also shows that polarization has been increasing in the United States for decades, long before platforms like Facebook even existed, and that it is decreasing in other countries where Internet and web use. Facebook has grown. We have our part to play and will continue to make changes consistent with the goal of making people’s experiences more meaningful, but blaming Facebook ignores the deeper causes of these problems – and the research. “

On the claim that security measures were put in place and then rolled back that made Facebook less secure by January 6:

“We spent more than two years preparing for the 2020 elections with massive investments, more than 40 teams across the company and more than 35,000 people working on safety and security. Gradually introducing and then adjusting measures emergencies before, during and after the elections, we took into account specific signals on the platforms and information from our continued and regular engagement with law enforcement. The measures have changed as well. It is wrong to claim that these measures were the reason for January 6 – the measures we were to stay in place until February, and some like not to recommend new civic or political groups stay in place to this day . are proud of this work. “

Additional statement on Facebook’s response to dangerous organizations ahead of the January 6 Capitol uprising:

“We have banned hundreds of militarized social movements, removed tens of thousands of QAnon pages, groups and accounts from our apps, and removed the original #StopTheSteal group. This is in addition to our deletion and disruption. repeated hate groups, including Proud Boys, which we banned in 2018. Ultimately, the blame rests with those who broke the law and the leaders who instigated them. Facebook has taken extraordinary steps to combat it. harmful content and we will continue to do our part. January to their crimes be available to prosecutors. “

On Instagram by suspending the launch of a version for the youngest:

A statement from Instagram: “While we are convinced of the value this experience would bring to families, we have decided to put this project on hold to give ourselves time to work with parents, experts, policy makers and regulators, d ‘to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the importance of this project for young teens online today. The reality is that kids are already online, and we believe that developing age-appropriate experiences designed specifically for them is much better for parents than we are today. “

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