Facebook harms children, weakens democracy: Former employee

A former employee of Facebook, Frances Haugen at a hearing on Capitol Hill heavily criticised the corporation— saying company’s apps and websites harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.  

In response to criticism, the co-founder of the social media giant, Mark Zuckerberg hit back, saying recent coverage painted a “false picture” of the company.

In a letter to staff, Mr Zuckerburg said many of the claims “don’t make any sense”, pointing to their efforts in establishing transparency, fighting harmful content, and creating “an industry-leading research program to under these important issues”.

The letter was made public on his Facebook page. 

“We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. It’s difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives,” the letter added. 

Facebook is one of the world’s most popular social media giant with at least 2.7 billion monthly active users. 

Hundreds of millions of people also use the company’s other products, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

However, Facebook has been criticised for everything from failing to protect users’ privacy to not doing enough to halt the spread of disinformation.