Sources: emergency meetings continue inside Facebook amid WSJ exposé, as some research staff decry Facebook's public response in group chats
The social network has been all hands on deck as it grapples with revelations that it knew the harmful effects its Instagram photo-sharing app was having on teenagers.
New York Times
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook's internal response follows reporting that its own research found Instagram harms a sizeable share of users, particularly teen girls. Facebook then released annotated versions of two studies, but the WSJ followed with six underlying internal documents, leaving the company's framing open to direct comparison with the source material.
The new staff dissent matters because it turns the episode from an external communications problem into a dispute over whether Facebook's public account reflects the work of its own researchers.
First-order effects
Facebook's emergency response must manage both the WSJ disclosures and internal researchers criticizing the company's public position, weakening its ability to present a unified account of the Instagram findings.
Instagram's teen-safety posture faces immediate scrutiny because the earlier reporting on its internal harm research said Facebook had taken few remedial steps.
Second-order effects
Facebook's release of annotated research documents is less likely to settle the dispute after the WSJ published additional materials; its public explanations will be judged against the underlying documents rather than on company summaries alone.
Internal research staff gain greater relevance in Facebook's external-risk management, since disagreement over how findings are characterized can itself become part of the story.
Third-order effects
If companies' internal platform-impact research repeatedly becomes public through reporting, product-safety governance shifts toward showing how findings changed decisions, not merely publishing interpretations after disclosure pressure.
The episode points toward greater accountability for the gap between a platform's private evidence of user harm and its public response, especially where younger users are involved.
The trend: Platform governance is moving toward closer scrutiny of whether companies act on internal evidence of user harm before that evidence becomes public.
Sen. Blumenthal asks Facebook “Will you commit to ending Finsta?” Facebook's safety chief has to explain that Finsta is slang for a fake account. https://twitter.com/...
Where are Mark and Sheryl? Zuckerberg hasn't posted in days Sandberg's post from 9/29 has scalding comments 👀 @Mosseri has been MIA since his week on Today Show and the Met Gala red carpet latest on internal turmoil by @MikeIsaac @sheeraf @RMac18 https://www.nytimes.com/...
We now know while Facebook publicly denies that Instagram is deeply harmful for teens, privately Facebook researchers/experts have been ringing the alarm. 2/
Thread: If trending can get more people interested in discussing Facebook's heinous wrongs, let's talk about it. This month a whistleblower approached my office to provide reports & documents about Facebook & Instagram. What they reveal is damning. 1/
“If Instagram can cause 3 percent of our users to report strongly negative thoughts (depression, anxiety, self-harm), I think that's a problem worth looking into,” one employee wrote. Instagram has roughly 1 billion users, so 3% is 30 million kids. https://www.nytimes.com/...
I wrote @nytopinion about some of the long term takeaways for reform that came out of @JeffHorwitz's great Facebook Files series at @WSJ Special thanks to @alexstamos & @jilliancyork who both gave me great thoughts and/or quotes that unfortunately got cut https://www.nytimes.com/…
Exactly. And even then it's a deceptive counter argument. Looking at the percent with those thoughts tracking back to Instagram is significantly higher. Think about what we rightly have done for lower percentages and older population from Covid. https://twitter.com/...
Yesterday's hearing was a continuation of our legislative pursuits, but also a call to action for Facebook to get real—real fast—about change. Parents, the public, & Congress deserve the truth. We need accountability. 8
FB's top two execs have said nothing publicly about the crisis. Zuckerberg's only public comment about any reporting has been about his hydrofoil, while he's posted about new gadgets. Sandberg held a small business panel. How long can they remain quiet? https://www.nytimes.com/..…
In the transformation of tv, people often forget just how many people still tune in to 60 Minutes on NFL Sundays especially when they bridge to a topic of interest across generations. Instagram + whistleblower + scandal is gold for ratings, very bad for Facebook. @brianstelter ht…
In truth, Facebook is using Big Tobacco's playbook. By hiding its own research on addiction & the toxic effects of its products, it has attempted to deceive the public & Congress about what it knows, while weaponizing childhood vulnerabilities against kids. 5/
We now know that Facebook routinely puts profits ahead of kids' online safety. We know it chooses the growth of its products over the well-being of our children. We now know it is indefensibly delinquent in acting to protect kids. 3/
Facebook is engulfed in scandal (again) over its products' impact on kids and Mark Zuckerberg wants nothing to do with it. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Facebook has asked us to trust it, but after these evasions & revelations, why should we? It's clear that Facebook has done nothing to earn that trust. Not from us, not from parents, not from the public. 4/
This is unfortunate — execs who have traditionally defended research don't seem to be showing up. There are other ways the company could have responded to the reporting. This way seems to confirm that comms comes before work. https://www.nytimes.com/...
We all know that Facebook treated protecting kids with disregard. If it had protected kids, like it did its revenue growth, it would have done a whole lot more. Instead, Facebook has evaded, misled, & deceived. 7/
The senator is apparently talking about his “finsta” flub yesterday, which was one of the top trending Twitter topics. It was a funny moment for sure. But overall, the questioning from senators, including Blumenthal, in the hearing was the best we've seen yet. https://twitter.com…