Just hours after a former Facebook employee Frances Haugen told a Senate panel that her ex-company puts 'profits' over 'safety' and well-being of its users, Mark Zuckerberg has come up with a statement which he put up on Facebook.
Zuckerberg said that none of the allegations that were made did not make any sense to him. He said that the allegations do not reflect what Facebook stands for. "We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives," Zuckerberg wrote in his staement.
Read Mark Zuckerberg's Full Statement Here
Haugen had testified saying that Facebook, through its algorithms creates high-engagement posts which in some cases can be harmful to users. "We introduced the Meaningful Social Interactions change to News Feed. This change showed fewer viral videos and more content from friends and family -- which we did knowing it would mean people spent less time on Facebook, but that research suggested it was the right thing for people's well-being. Is that something a company focused on profits over people would do?" - Zuckerberg said asserting his pro-user outlook.
Haugen had leaked thousands of pages of internal research to the Journal which provided as the foundation for a succession of stories packaged as the “Facebook Files”.
According to Sunday's '60 Minutes' interview, the 37-year-old former employee has also filed 8 complaints with US securities stating that Facebook has been withholding information regarding the risks the social media platforms has.
"We have an industry-leading research program so that we can identify important issues and work on them. It's disheartening to see that work taken out of context and used to construct a false narrative that we don't care," said Zuckerberg.
"If we attack organizations making an effort to study their impact on the world, we're effectively sending the message that it's safer not to look at all, in case you find something that could be held against you," he added.