London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Facebook promotes hate to make money, whistleblower claims

Facebook promotes hate to make money, whistleblower claims

The social media giant knows hate speech is a problem. It also knows it's profitable, a former employee claimed on Sunday.

Facebook's business model promotes hate speech, damages democracy and is even "tearing our societies apart," a former product manager of the company's civic misinformation team has said.

Frances Haugen, who left Facebook in May this year, was the whistleblower who leaked internal company research - including reports that reveal Instagram's impact on teenage girls' mental health - to the Wall Street Journal last month.

Speaking to American TV network CBS on Sunday, Haugen said that her experience working for Facebook revealed a company that prioritised growth over making its product safer.

"The thing I saw over and over again was that there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook," Haugen told CBS's 60 Minutes.

"Facebook over and over again chose to optimise for its own interests, like making more money," she said.

'Betrayal of democracy'


Haugen joined Facebook in June 2019, working on a team tasked with tackling misinformation around elections.

In the run-up to the United States' presidential elections in November 2020, Facebook announced a raft of measures it said would help connect voters to accurate information and reduce "the risks of post-election confusion".

Shortly after the election took place, however, the team was dissolved.

Haugen claimed Facebook then rolled back many of the interventions it had put in place to limit the spread of misinformation.

"As soon as the election was over, they turned them back off or they changed the settings back to what they were before, to prioritise growth over safety," Haugen said.

"And that really feels like a betrayal of democracy to me".

Capitol riot 'not our fault', Facebook says


In Sunday's interview, Haugen drew a connection between Facebook and the US Capitol riots on January 6, when supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the seat of the American legislature.

She said that she did not trust the company to "invest what actually needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous".

Facebook's Nick Clegg said it was "ludicrous" to pin the blame for the January 6 Capitol riot on social media companies


Speaking before Haugen's interview was broadcast, Facebook's vice president of policy and global affairs Nick Clegg told CNN that the company did not accept that it was one of the main contributors to political polarisation in the US.

"The insurrection on that day lies squarely with the people who inflicted the violence and those who encouraged them, including President Trump," Clegg said, adding that it was "ludicrous" to pin the blame on social media.

"I think it gives people false confidence to assume that there must be a technological or a technical explanation for the issues of political polarisation in the United States ... It's too easy to say it's Facebook's fault".

Failing to fight hate


According to Facebook documents provided to CBS by Haugen, the company is aware both of the spread of hate speech on its platforms, and also of how challenging a problem it poses.

"We estimate that we may action as little as 3-5 per cent of hate and ~0.6 per cent of V&I [Violence and Incitement] on Facebook despite being the best in the world at it," one internal report said.

"We have evidence from a variety of sources that hate speech, divisive political speech, and misinformation on Facebook and the family of apps are affecting societies around the world," said another.

According to Haugen, fixing Facebook's hate speech problem could take more than heavier content moderation and stricter rules.

'It's easier to inspire anger'


A 2018 change to the algorithm that decides which pieces of content are shown to users inadvertently ended up giving Facebook users information that was more likely to trigger an angry response, Haugen told CBS.

"[Facebook] is optimising for content that gets engagement, a reaction," she said.

"But its own research is showing that content that is hateful, that is divisive, that is polarising - it's easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions".

Haugen's leaks have prompted condemnation from lawmakers in the US, where Facebook has been called to testify before a Senate committee


Haugen alleged that the company was unwilling to change the algorithm as it could impact the business's bottom line.

"Facebook has realised that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they'll click on less ads, they'll make less money," she said.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations she levelled at the company, Haugen said she empathised with Facebook's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

"No one at Facebook is malevolent, but the incentives are misaligned," she said.

"Facebook makes more money when you consume more content. People enjoy engaging with things that elicit an emotional reaction, and the more anger they get exposed to, the more they interact and the more they consume".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×