For two and a half hours, Frances Haugan spoke to MEPs about how Facebook works. Her questions ranged from gathering information about users who use the social network through algorithms that process user data, to influencing people and hence democratic processes, not only in the United States but in other countries as well. She explained her motives for giving publicity to internal practices on Facebook because, according to her, „almost no one outside of Facebook knows what’s going on inside Facebook.“
Frances Haugan: The stakes are high. You have a chance given to a generation to create new rules for the online world. Social media can be safer and more enjoyable. If I have to point out two things from my revelations that you need to draw for yourself, they must be: first, Facebook chooses profit over safety every day. And without bold action by lawmakers, this will continue. The second is that Facebook has used its ability to hide the actual behaviour of the platform, which has led to the breakdown of our security to an unacceptable level. If Facebook is allowed to continue working in the dark, we will only see an escalation of tragedies. I decided to act at a time of great personal risk because I believe we still have time to act. But we must act now.
