In the turmoil for three weeks, Facebook is now trying to counterattack. “The overwhelming majority of what has been mentioned in the press does not correspond to my experience of this company”, assured, Friday October 8 to World, Monika Bickert, responsible for public policies, in particular for moderation and display of content, Facebook and Instagram. Mentioned in a series of surveys by the American daily Wall Street Journal, then in a hearing in the US Senate, internal documents taken away by whistleblower Frances Haugen suggest that company management is aware of many problems with its departments, but is not acting, or too little.
This time, Facebook is not offering any excuses, as during the scandal of the misappropriation of personal data by the agency Cambridge Analytica, in 2018. Mr.me Bickert is on the offensive. “To suggest that we don’t prioritize the safety of our users is simply wrong. The idea that we put profits before people is false ”, affirms the leader arrived at Facebook in 2012, citing as proof the fact that the company carries out precisely internal research like those cited by the whistleblower.
Regarding Frances Haugen, the attitude is also dry, even hostile: it is only designated as a “Ex-employee”, who has “Stolen documents”. Is Facebook going to sue her? “I cannot tell you if we will file a complaint, but I do not think that the way in which she distorts these documents or claims to understand the way in which we work on these subjects is useful for the understanding of the general public”, Monika Bickert answers.
Basically, the social network is reassuring. “Saying that Instagram is a toxic place for teens”, as one of the articles in the Wall Street Journal, “is not fair,” declares Mme Bickert. “Instagram is an important and positive part of the social life of many of them. “ Regarding the internal study which showed that the application worsened the mental state of certain adolescents, Mr.me Bickert evokes a more mixed record. “When we questioned young girls who already had problems with discomfort, on eleven of the twelve subjects mentioned, they replied that Instagram was improving things or not changing anything”, She argues, before admitting that on the twelfth (the representation of the body), a larger percentage responded that Instagram was making things worse.
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