The most prominent social media in the world and multinational technology company, Facebook, is facing another massive issue within its organization for allowing fake news and disinformation to reign over its website, allowing the government to manipulate content to mislead citizens. Facebook's whistleblower unearths a shocking scandal that rocks the company's reputation and identity.
A former Facebook Data Scientist turned whistleblower shares an unpublished 6,600-word memo to BuzzFeed News which the news agency has not uploaded yet due to security reasons. Sophie Zhang, the Facebook whistleblower, shares her horrific experience while working for the company in a seemingly "whack-a-mole" happening of hunting down and removing fake accounts.
Sophie Zhang stated that Facebook was slow to act or even ignored the political manipulation present on social media, participated in by the government of several countries against its citizens. Fake news, misinformation, and manipulation were some of the tactics used by several political parties and even its government-elected officials to sway public opinion.
Some of the manipulation Zhang found on social media even made it to foreign news that affected various countries and cities throughout the globe.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg testified about Facebook's proposed cryptocurrency Libra, how his company will handle false and misleading information by political leaders during the 2020 campaign and how it handles its users’ data and privacy. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Facebook, is yet again, facing another scandal that shakes its integrity down to the very core, in the eyes of the public. The company barely escaped netizens' harsh criticism and boycott movement of #DeleteFacebook about the recent Kenosha Militia activities that the company failed to stop.
Sophie Zhang: Facebook Data Scientist to Whistleblower
Sophie Zhang comes forth with shocking revelations backed with evidence and examples that condemns her former employer, Facebook, on allowing and ignoring certain red flags that went against its Community Standards.
The blatant attempts, according to Zhang, are increasing in the social media with various governments aiming to use the platform on their bidding. Political manipulation from parties was present in the countries of Azerbaijan and Honduras who used fake accounts and lied to the public to change particular views.
On the other hand, countries including India, Ukraine, Spain, Brazil, and Ecuador utilized the social media platform to perform coordinated campaigns to promote and malign political outcomes, changing the course of the elections. Sophie Zhang worked for Facebook's Site Integrity fake management team, dealing mostly with bots on the platform, particularly during elections.
Zhang's Actions with Facebook
Sophie Zhang's actions during her employment at the social media company pushed her to do things against her bidding and act on her personal decisions against specific political dispute found on Facebook. Zhang also said that her judgement was used to enforce the company's policies against individual political personalities.
Zhang's position as a mid-level employee led her to decide and act for different countries, personally accountable in changing the direction of a political stand-off in a nation. She even went as far as saying that she has "blood" on her hands due to the activities Facebook ignored.
Facebook: Ignoring Massive Political Issues?
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 11: Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepares to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the second day of testimony before Congress by Zuckerberg, 33, after it was reported that 87 million Facebook users had their personal information harvested by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The most prominent social media in the world is not yet giving its side regarding this issue, but Zhang's statement paints a picture on who the perpetrator is. The whistleblower says that Facebook ignored or took very late actions on specific time-sensitive problems that were given attention way later than it is supposed to do.
Sophie Zhang said that even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) flagged the company for taking inaction regarding a "Russian inauthentic activity on a high-profile U.S. political figure." Several more inactions are revealed with Facebook being passive and ignorant on the issues.
Sophie Zhang's revelations show Facebook on a different light, exposing the company's shortcomings and unearthing a massive scandal within the organization.
