A new whistleblower, a former member of Facebook's Integrity team, files an SEC complaint alleging Facebook prized profits over fighting hate speech and misinfo

Craig Timberg / Washington Post :

Washington Post 2021-10-24 Craig Timberg

Context & Ripple Effects

The complaint joins an earlier insider SEC filing alleging inadequate investor warnings and arrives amid the public release of Frances Haugen's eight SEC complaints. Together, the coverage shifts Facebook's Integrity team from an internal policy function into a source of recurring investor-disclosure allegations.

First-order effects

Facebook faces an additional SEC-directed allegation that its handling of hate speech and misinformation was subordinated to profit, adding to the claims already associated with Frances Haugen.
The SEC receives another account from a former Integrity team member; the supplied coverage establishes the filing, not an SEC finding or enforcement action.

Second-order effects

Repeated complaints make Facebook's representations about platform-safety work more central to investor-disclosure scrutiny, rather than solely a content-moderation debate.
Whistleblower Aid's later COVID-19 and climate misinformation complaints show how the same SEC channel can extend allegations from broad platform harms to specific policy areas.

Third-order effects

If this pattern persists, major platforms' internal trust-and-safety decisions will increasingly be contested through securities-law claims about what investors were told.
The parallel security allegations against Twitter point to a broader accountability route in which former platform employees frame user-protection failures as governance and disclosure issues.

The trend: Former platform employees are increasingly using SEC complaints to connect safety and misinformation practices with corporate disclosure and investor-risk claims.

Discussion

@craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
I find it a bit strange that some outlets working with FB whistleblower docs are treating FB's internal Stop the Steal report as news. We published the full text of it back in April. Genuinely curious why it's being prominently featured in new stories? https://www.buzzfeednews.co…
@bobcesca_go Bob Cesca on x
Wasn't there a story a while back about a similar deal between FB and Shapiro's The Daily Wire? https://twitter.com/...
@realdrothschild David Rothschild on x
We must end FB...the propaganda machine is evil https://twitter.com/...
@2020istrash2020 StevieSaid_no_flat_tires on x
I stumbled across like 6 hate groups on fb a few weeks ago. Reported them. Fb said they didn't violate any TOS. I believe this shit. https://twitter.com/...
@moonalice Roger McNamee on x
NYT just did FB a huge favor. They released the huge (and embargoed until Monday) 1/6 story on Friday night, diminishing its impact. NYT says they have an independent source. Was that source inside FB Comms? That would be a classic FB move.
@paulmasonnews Paul Mason on x
And here we were thinking it's only Facebook's algorithm that promotes far right hate... https://twitter.com/...
@brainnotonyet Karl on x
The right has been lying about social media bias while creating a massive far-right propaganda and radicalization platform under those false pretenses. If only people had been warning of this for years. This is a great example of weaponized unreality and its inversion of reality …
@annmlipton Ann Lipton on x
i mean the fascinating thing again is that the whistleblower is going to the sec. is that bc of protections the securities laws afford against retaliation? https://twitter.com/...
@stevesilberman Steve Silberman on x
One of the things that will astonish historians is how much damage to the entire world Trump's tight little circle of pedophiles, criminals, Russian agents, meth-freaks, and psychopaths was able to do with sheer bullying. “Big Tech” is the best friend these scumbags ever had. htt…
@wiczipedia Nina Jankowicz on x
On Russian interference in 2016, a FB comms official said: “It will be a flash in the pan. Some legislators will get pissy. And then in a few weeks they will move onto something else. Meanwhile we are printing money in the basement, and we are fine.” https://www.washingtonpost.co…
@emilybell Emily Bell on x
One of the most depressing aspects of this is that the ‘comms official’ was pretty much right. The Honest Ads Act etc - never came to pass.FB enjoyed record $$ https://twitter.com/...
@bgrueskin Bill Grueskin on x
Facebook is like a tobacco grower, an asbestos manufacturer and a lead-paint supplier, all rolled into one company https://twitter.com/...
@katestarbird Kate Starbird on x
Again, we hear that instead of holding highly visible, “repeat offender” accounts & domains to higher standards (e.g. around the spread of misinformation), FB whitelisted them, fearing political and PR blowback. And again that private groups are toxic. https://www.washingtonpost.…
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
This story took a while to report and was based on docs obtained by Frances Haugen + others that I've reported on in the past. It includes this March report that we reported at @BuzzFeedNews. FB took it down internally after our story. So we published it: https://www.buzzfeednews…
@sal19 @sal19 on x
Yet another Facebook whistleblower has spoken up. Reporting by the @WashingtonPost https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@fchollet @fchollet on x
FB's algorithmic mind-steering has only one stable attractor: extreme radicalization. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
“At Facebook, I soon learned, there's no will to actually fix problems, in particular if doing so might reduce user engagement, and therefore profits. Instead, management treated everything as a PR issue only.”
@patti_foss Patti on x
@profcarroll What is wrong with these people? They knowingly used toxic hate, propaganda which have harmed alot of people, to win elections, while so many hide behind religion. Who does that to people in your own country?
@jgo4justice Jessica González on x
But let's focus on what this means: a second whistleblower has come out, at great personal risk, to corroborate Frances Haugen's revelations that Facebook hasn't done enough to stop hate, conspiracies and violence organized on its platform.
@jgo4justice Jessica González on x
And I'm feeling “pissy” about it because Facebook's failures have put me and my community at greater risk for hate, harassment, violence and disinformation campaigns aimed to decrease the number of Latinx people who turn out to vote.
@jgo4justice Jessica González on x
He can say he didn't say this, but for any of us who have advocated for FB to clean up its act over the past decade, this sounds awfully familiar.
@can @can on x
One thing to remember is that the only actual thing any Facebook employee could have done is actually quit. Raising flags and collecting checks as the democracy goes down the drain is essentially Just Following Orders https://twitter.com/...
@green_footballs Charles Johnson on x
Wow. The latest allegation is that Facebook specifically EXEMPTED hate sites like Breitbart “News” from policy enforcement. New whistleblower claims Facebook allowed hate, illegal activity to go unchecked https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
We even ran ads on Facebook targeted at @facebook employees asking them if they knew why Breitbart was given special treatment. No answer. Now it's clear why. Kaplan was flying cover for Breitbart the whole time. What an absolute outrage. We need transparency now. https://twitter…
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
Knew it. Knew it exactly when it was happening. Here it is. Definitive proof that @facebook made special concessions for Breitbart when they set up their “trusted news” tab. @campbell_brown, their head of news, wouldn't answer why. Now we know. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...…
@juliadavisnews Julia Davis on x
Facebook official about the controversy re Russian election interference: “It will be a flash in the pan. Some legislators will get pissy... in a few weeks they will move onto something else. Meanwhile we are printing money in the basement, & we are fine.” https://www.washingtonp…
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
.@Facebook really seems to think they can just go full Trumpian war against the press & it'll end well. here's journalist-turned-FB spox Erin McPike berating WaPo for writing a story off a single... whistleblower's sworn affidavit? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twit…
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Facebook responded to this by insulting the Washington Post instead of addressing the whistleblower's allegations. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
The whistleblower is anonymous but has spoken to @craigtimberg, who broke the story. Check out Facebook's response to the story.... https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@joshsternberg Josh Sternbag on x
A new whistleblower affidavit submitted by a former Facebook employee Friday alleges that the company prizes growth and profits over combatting hate speech, misinformation and other threats to the public https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
(Most of the charges here are oft-rehearsed and it's not clear what new evidence there is in this new SEC complaint, aside from some fresh hearsay)
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
My joke idea for a new Facebook name has been “Whistleblowers Inc.” because it would make stories about Facebook whistleblowers too confusing to follow. Anyway there's a new Facebook whistleblower https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@anothercultland @anothercultland on x
ummmm, that statement isn't exactly a denial https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@gretchenspeters Gretchen Peters on x
Notice that @tuckerbounds and other #Facebook execs are not denying they said it. They are just counterattacking. #typical https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@new_narrative Mike Walker on x
Another whistleblower accuses Facebook of valuing growth and profits over the combating of hate speech and misinformation https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@viacristiano Cristiano Lima on x
🚨 Breaking: Another Facebook whistleblower has alleged in an SEC complaint that the company prizes its profits over battling hate speech & misinformation https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... via @craigtimberg
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
They're gonna run out of whistles https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

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