Unexpected Social Media Blackout Follows Whistleblower’s Appearance on TV
- A worldwide blackout of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp was observed following a whistleblower's tell-all broadcast media debut calling out social media companies
- The true name of Frances Haugen a former Facebook product manager who engaged in civic integrity problems was revealed on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday
- Research and reports released by Haugen indicates that Facebook was aware that its platforms have been used to spread violence, bigotry, and fake news
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After a whistleblower made her tell-all television media debut calling out social media giants; a blackout of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were experienced worldwide on Monday, 4 October.
The identity of Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old ex-Facebook product manager, was revealed when she appeared on 60 Minutes, the CBS broadcasted news segment, on Sunday, 3 October.
The former civic integrity issues worker at the company released documents that contained tens of thousands of internal research and reports that brought to light that Facebook knew the platforms were utilised to disseminate violence, hatred and fake news that the company attempted to sweep the evidence under the rug.
Source: Getty Images
According to Al Jazeera, Haugen, who used to work at Google and Pinterest was expected to give evidence before a Senate subcommittee in a hearing titled Protecting Kids Online.
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Reports from CNN detailed that following Haugen's appearance, Facebook spokesperson Lena Pietsch issued a statement of 700 words critiquing what Facebook called missing facts from the section. The media giant also stated that the media debut selected certain things which were misleading about the research they conducted to improve products.
Peeps share their thoughts about Frances Haugen
@AliciaLalone wrote:
"Thank you @FrancesHaugen."
@jeff_maag4 shared:
"The only whistleblower that gets coverage is the one promoting censorship? Let’s put on our thinking caps, people. It’s like having an OPEC whistleblower claiming that oil is too cheap."
@AlanMByrne added:
"Hopefully, the outage doesn't overshadow or bury what comes out in Frances Haugen's testimony before Congress today."
Mark Zuckerberg trolled online after Facebook, social media global outage
Earlier, Briefly News reported that millions of social media users around the globe were left in limbo after an apparent global social media outage on Monday night.
People who prefer Twitter, among other social networking platforms, shared information in droves around the so-called "internet shutdown" as panic-stricken users began to feel its sting.
Incidentally, applications such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all of which are owned by tech giant billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, were not spared amid one of the largest outages in recent memory.
The marathon outage, which lasted nearly six hours, was attributed to a faulty configuration change. It is not the first time this has happened, and users on various microblogging services did not hesitate to vent their frustration.
Source: Briefly News
