Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said that she is an opponent of censorship via tech companies, rebutting conservative criticism that she is a left-wing operative opposed to free speech.

Haugen said that, contrary to how she has been portrayed, she's opposed to censorship on social media platforms on the grounds that it angers people and does not work. Instead, she said that she is critical of Facebook's use of algorithms to massively boost the distribution of content, which she said has had unintended consequences and has resulted in the company itself distorting public debate.

“I just don't think that censorship works at scale. And it doesn't work, period,” said Haugen, who was behind a recent series of bombshell revelations about Facebook, such as that it knew of its harmful effects on younger users and its use by drug cartels and drug traffickers.

“Facebook wants us to be distracted and argue about censorship because we will never agree on it. But the reality is there's a lot of things that they can do today that don't involve content moderation that could make their product safer,” Haugen said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.

Haugen said that Facebook could take noncensorship actions, such as changing problematic algorithms and reducing the amplification of all content on the platform, but doesn't, because doing so would hurt usership and profits.

The controversial content for which Facebook has been criticized is primarily spread through the...

Read Full Story: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/facebook-whistleblower-responds-to-...