When Frances Haugen first sounded the alarm in 2021 that her former employer Facebook was deliberately harming users through its addictive features, few were ready to hear it.
But Haugen had knocked a domino that set off a chain of events culminating in this week’s landmark ruling against Meta, as Facebook’s parent company is now known, in a civil courthouse in California.
“What a day,” exhaled Haugen on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the jury returned its verdict that Meta, along with Google, had caused harm to a teenager who became addicted to its platforms.
Five years ago, Haugen, 41, turned whistleblower, leaking sensitive internal documents that revealed how Facebook knowingly prioritised divisive content — hate, controversy and polarisation — because it boosts user engagement, fuels algorithmic growth and drives revenue.
“I put out 2,000 pages that showed the public we can’t trust this company,” she told The Times. “I think what I did that helped move the needle was providing proof that they [Facebook] had been hiding evidence. Once that was established, it became possible for people to use the court system to get the rest of the evidence out there.”
The Los Angeles trial centred on allegations made by a 19-year-old woman called Kaley, whose last name has not been revealed, that social media giants intentionally created features which hooked her as a child and led to mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression.
Her lawyer, Mark Lanier, told the...
Myung Tae-kyun on the 26th told Democratic Party of Korea’s North Chungcheong Governor candidate Shin Yong-han, “If you feel wronged, sue me for defamation.” Myung stated, “Shin claimed we should ...