Financial Times
Facebook is going through a rough patch and it is basically because of its own wrongdoings. Well, it is too soon to call its actions ‘wrong’, for the time being, let’s go with the word ‘controversial’ instead.
Since the entire whistleblower incident where Haugen, one of Facebook’s ex-employees identified herself as being a whistleblower shared some significant, confidential and noteworthy documents with Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no denying the fact that Haugen had some really interesting and noteworthy points to add when she talked about Facebook. But it was necessary and only ethical that the company’s insider talks should remain within the four walls of the office building and any document, not sanctioned by the company should go to any political party which is already building a strong case against the social media giant, or more importantly the Securities regulator for that matter.
Anyhow, following the incidents, Facebook has limited employees’ access to some internal groups within the company that deals with ‘sensitive’ issues and decisions about safety and other things, as mentioned in a report by Engadget. Now, this change was also served as an internal comment to Facebook employees and the fact that it immediately got leaked out of the office is highly amusing at some level and an issue of concern for the social media giant. Is there no privacy left at Facebook anymore? Does Facebook employ assets to the company or anchors that pull it down for every chance they get? The answer is really confusing, for you, me and even for Mark Zuckerberg.
Speaking the documents shared by Haugen to the Congress and the SEC reveal significant information about the company’s plans and research on teenager mental health along with several memos that talked about handling regulations and rules for VIPs, misinformation on the platform and other issues with a lot of information which the congress can use to strengthen its case against the company. Haugen along with other whistleblowers are also ready to testify before Congress against Facebook with one of them saying that she felt like having blood on her hands after working with Facebook.
Also, you know, fun fact- these documents that have been shared aren’t secretive. As per Facebook’s open-book culture, every employee has access to these documents, but not anymore. Facebook is making some internal changes within its organization and will certainly remove employees whose work is not related to safety and security, as per a report by Engadget.
