The internal discussions— taken in message-board conversations reviewed by the publication — fuel new interests that the platform treats news outlets differently based on a political slant.
Breitbart was one of the publications they have tried to remove from the News Tab function, especially amid protests following George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police last year.
After personnel asked about removing Breitbart, a senior researcher responded, “I can also tell you that we saw drops in trust in CNN 2 years ago: would we take the same approach for them too?” he penned.
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By 2020, Facebook had started watching “strikes” for content considered false by third-party fact-checkers. Repeat offenders could be barred from posting. Aggravations came more often against conservative outlets, according to the report.
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The report is the most advanced in a set of bombshell disclosures from whistleblowers about the social media colossus’ craving for profits over the needs of its users.
Employees were told in recent days to brace for more disclosures. Nick Clegg, the vice president of global affairs for Facebook, told workers that “we need to steel ourselves for more bad headlines in the coming days, I’m afraid,” in a Saturday memo obtained by Axios.
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The new scoops were expected to come Monday from several news outlets given leaked material by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. Still, an embargo on the news fell Friday, and more destructive reporting on the company’s internal workings could be released any time.
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The story that broke the embargo on Friday involved a new whistleblower who told the Securities and Exchange Commission that Facebook regularly denied concerns about hate speech and the extent of misinformation over fears it would hinder its growth.
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The whistleblower, who claimed under oath and whose name has not been released, told the SEC in 2017 that Facebook execs discouraged attempts to fight misinformation and hate speech during the Trump administration because it would hold back the company’s growth — and because they were afraid of the consequences from the president and his allies.
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The whistleblower, like Haugen, a member of the social network’s “integrity team,” said Tucker Bounds, a Facebook communications official, dismissed hate speech as a “flash in the pan” and said even though “some legislators will get pissy,” the company is “printing money in the basement.”
A person who worked at Facebook at the time told The Post that the comments from Bounds sound accurate.
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