Special to USA TODAY
LISBON, Portugal – The tech conference that once had Facebook executives holding forth on their futuristic ambitions in headline keynotes treated the social network to an extended critique this week. And Facebook responded by streaming it in, with two executives appearing only via video.
Web Summit – taking place in person after the pandemic forced 2020’s event to go virtual – opened Monday night with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen telling an arena packed with masked attendees about her decision to bear witness against her former employer.
"I learned things that I believed were putting lives in jeopardy,” Haugen said of her "60 Minutes" interview during a conversation with moderator Laurie Segall.
Who is Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen? Everything you need to know
She said the company’s reliance on large groups and algorithmic amplification accelerates extremism: "Right now, the most extreme content wins out in that footrace.”
But Haugen added that she continued to believe in Facebook’s core mission of connecting family and friends, declaring, "I have faith that Facebook will change." Then she answered a line of questioning from Segall by suggesting Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg should step down.
Other Web Summit attendees took a sharper scalpel to Facebook. Tech investor and increasingly vocal tech-giant critic Roger McNamee suggested multiple felony charges should be in order.
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