Media Publish "Facebook Archive". Zuckerberg Calls It an Attempt to Defame the Company

Internal company documents were provided by a former employee.

17 American media outlets published materials based on internal Facebook documents. The project was named "Facebook Papers" ("Facebook Archive").

The project involved major U.S. publications, in particular The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, CNN, The Verge, Associated Press and Bloomberg. Publications began appearing on October 22, but most articles were released on October 25. We explain what this is and who provided the internal documents.

What became known from the "Facebook Archive"

In 2020, company founder Mark Zuckerberg told Congress that the social network removes 94% of hate speech. However, according to internal documents, fewer than 5% of such statements are removed.

U.S. residents make up less than 10% of the social network's users, but 84% of the content moderation budget is directed at America. The rest of the world accounts for 16%. India has particularly serious moderation problems, in particular due to the large number of languages used.

Before the November 2020 U.S. presidential election, Facebook strengthened its fight against disinformation. However, right after the elections, many control tools were turned off. Employees warned that rumors of election fraud were spreading on the social network and posts inciting violence were appearing.

In 2020, Vietnamese authorities, threatening to block the platform, demanded that the social network censor posts from local opposition. Zuckerberg personally decided to comply with the demands of Vietnamese authorities.

There are VIP users of Facebook to whom the usual content moderation rules do not apply. In addition, Facebook executives could personally determine whether a post by a well-known user violated the social network's rules.

Who provided the documents

The documents that became the basis for the media publications were provided by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen. The 37-year-old Haugen is a data specialist with 15 years of experience in the technology sector. She joined the company in 2019.

According to her, she wanted to fight disinformation because shortly before, her close friend had become absorbed in online conspiracy theories and ended their relationship. Haugen worked at Facebook in a unit responsible for countering disinformation during elections around the world. After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the unit was disbanded, and in spring 2021 she resigned.

In early October, Frances officially revealed her identity. She testified at hearings in Congress and the British Parliament and handed over the documents she had obtained.

What Haugen and Facebook claim

The former employee believes the company's products "harm children, divide society and weaken democracy." At the congressional hearings, she stated that management knows about the problems and understands how they can be solved, but does nothing about them or does not do enough, because it puts profit above the public good.

According to Haugen, too much power is concentrated in Zuckerberg's hands, and Facebook is unable to change on its own and needs external oversight and regulation. She noted that she does not seek to destroy the company, but wants to help it overcome the crisis.

The company noted that over the past five years it has directed $13 billion toward ensuring user safety.

The biggest crisis in the social network's history

CNN writes that this is the biggest crisis in the entire history of Facebook. This time the social network faced negative press, another wave of interest from Congress, and the emergence of whistleblowers.

However, Wall Street believes in Facebook: on October 25 trading, the company's shares even rose in price, and analysts still advise investing in them. They believe the company will weather the storm thanks to its dominant position in the global internet advertising market.

Amid the scandal, information emerged that Facebook plans to change its name.

Experts said companies sometimes resort to such a method to restore their reputation. But in Facebook's case, a name change will not be enough.

What Zuckerberg said

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg commented on the publication of the "Facebook Archive" for the first time.

Mark Zuckerberg
founder of Facebook

I believe large organizations should be thoroughly scrutinized, and I would rather live in a society where that happens than one where it doesn't. Good-faith criticism helps us get better. But I think what we're seeing is a coordinated attempt to selectively use leaked documents to present a distorted picture of our company.

According to him, when making decisions, the company must find a balance between competing concepts of social justice, such as freedom of speech and reducing harmful content, or introducing encryption for privacy and supporting law enforcement.

"I have repeatedly called for regulation to provide clarity, because I don't think companies should make many of these decisions on their own," Zuckerberg said.