Mark Zuckerberg responds to claim Facebook put profits over safety: ‘just not true’
- Facebook CEO defends company against accusations it put profit over the well-being of users, or pushes divisive content
- Came after a Facebook whistle-blower told US lawmakers the company urgently needs to be regulated
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed a recent series of negative stories about the company for the first time by saying accusations that it puts profit over user safety are “just not true”.
“It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives. At the most basic level, I think most of us just don’t recognise the false picture of the company that is being painted,” he wrote in a note to employees on Tuesday that he also posted publicly.
“There were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” she said. “Facebook over and over again chose to optimise for its own interests like making more money.”
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Zuckerberg wrote that he was bothered by a narrative that Facebook is not worried about children’s safety. Two Senate hearings over the past week have focused on Facebook’s impact on teens and young children, including Haugen’s testimony.
The Wall Street Journal published internal Facebook research last month, provided by Haugen, that showed Instagram made some mental health issues worse for teenagers who use the product. The company, which was building a version of Instagram for children, has put that project on hold.
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“When it comes to young people’s health or well-being, every negative experience matters,” the CEO wrote. “We have worked for years on industry-leading efforts to help people in these moments and I’m proud of the work we’ve done.”
Facebook doesn’t benefit from content that makes people angry or depressed or make all product decisions to maximise user interactions, Zuckerberg said. When it changed its News Feed algorithm to show more posts from friends and family a few years back, the CEO added, the company did so knowing that people would spend less time on the service.
Zuckerberg ended the note by encouraging Facebook’s workforce and expressing his gratitude for their work.
