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KQED's Forum

Wall Street Journal: Facebook Long Aware of Platform's Ill Effects on Users

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2727 Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For years, top officials at Facebook have been aware of the platform's adverse impacts on users, and they've turned a blind eye to company employees who've tried to push for change. That's according to a new Wall Street Journal investigation that uncovered internal documents suggesting the company willfully disregarded reports that it's harming teens' mental health and failing to stop the spread of misinformation. In a blog post, Facebook said the investigation deliberately mischaracterized the company's actions and "conferred egregiously false motives" on its leadership. We'll talk to the reporters behind the investigation about what they learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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From KUED in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim. Coming up on forum, top Facebook officials have known for years that the social platform can have harmful impacts on users,

0:55.0

but they've failed to do much about them.

0:57.0

That's according to a new Wall Street Journal series that reviewed internal documents,

1:02.0

suggesting the company disregarded reports from employees that it damages teens' mental health

1:07.0

or speeds up the spread of misinformation.

1:10.0

Now Facebook is pushing back saying that journal investigation deliberately mischaracterized the

1:15.0

company's actions.

1:16.2

We'll talk to the reporters behind the series and take your questions after this news. This is Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Nearly a third of teen girls, say Instagram, Facebook's photo and image sharing app, makes them feel worse about their bodies. and among teens who've had suicidal thoughts,

1:46.0

13% of British users and 6% of US users trace this to Instagram.

1:52.0

These are issues Facebook has known about because the data come from the company's own research.

1:58.0

But according to a Wall Street Journal investigation, time and again, Facebook's leaders have done little to address these and other harms brought to their attention by their own employees.

2:09.4

Joining me now are Wall Street Journal tech reporters Jeff Horowitz.

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