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Mark Zuckerberg has sounded off on the Facebook whistleblower, saying her testimony blatantly misrepresents what his company does … and he’s listed several examples he believes prove how her allegations “don’t make any sense.”
The Facebook founder responded late Tuesday to claims made by Frances Haugen in front of Congress earlier in the day, with an outright denial and series of counterpoints to her overall belief that Facebook puts profits over people, deepens divides and damages the mental health of the youth.
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Zuckerberg writes … “We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives.”
He then goes on to pick apart Haugen’s points one by one, by listing all the ways he says Facebook prioritizes research, fighting harmful content, transparency and bringing people together.
Zuckerberg also refutes Haugen’s most damaging allegation by saying, “At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That’s just not true.”
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He adds … “The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical. We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don’t want their ads next to harmful or angry content.”
The Facebook founder also responds in great detail to Haugen’s claims regarding teenage mental health and how social media negatively affects it. Zuckerberg claims the company is deeply committed to creating the opposite experience for young people, and even offers statistics to back it up.
He says … “The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced.”
Finally, Zuckerberg puts some heat on Congress to update internet regulations to aid in some of the problem areas of social media … essentially saying it shouldn’t be all on Facebook.
As we reported … Haugen likened Facebook to Big Tobacco during her Tuesday testimony, and called on the government to step in.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren has hailed the whistleblower as a hero for trying to save democracy, but clearly … Zuckerberg doesn’t see things the same way.
