Facebook to make internal groups private after whistleblower shared leaked documents, leaked document reveals

Facebook’s decision to ramp up internal conversation was also revealed by a leaked document, as per which Facebook will remove employees “whose work isn’t related to safety and security.” (Picture: Reuters)HIGHLIGHTSFacebook is working on making some internal groups and chat forums more private.As per the report, employees themselves often take to its internal communication platform, Workplace, to discuss controversial issues facing the company.Haugen shared documents that included slides detailing the company’s research into teen mental health and misinformation.Facebook is working on making some internal groups and chat forums more private after Frances Haugen shared internal documents with the Congress, Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), and with the press. Interestingly, Facebook’s decision to ramp up internal conversation was also revealed by a leaked document, according to which Facebook will remove employees “whose work isn’t related to safety and security.”After the documents were revealed, the social media giant has decided to limit access to these internal groups to deal with sensitive issues like safety and elections.

Haugen had been sharing internal documents from Facebook with the Congress and the Wall Street Journal weeks before she even revealed her identity. This was because Facebook employees discussed and talked about the social network’s policies on the internal forum, which was open and promoted sharing, according to The New York Times.As per the report, employees themselves often take to its internal communication platform, Workplace, to discuss controversial issues facing the company. The company is making some internal groups private and will remove employees “whose work isn’t related to safety and security,” according to the report. “Sensitive Integrity discussions will happen in closed, curated forums in the future,” the company told employees in a memo.Apart from her findings of Facebook, Haugen shared documents which included slides detailing the company’s research into teen mental health, memos about how the company has handled rules for VIPs, and misinformation.Haugen later decided to reveal her identity and noted that Facebook realised that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, and will click on fewer ads, making less money. “I’ve seen a bunch of social networks and it was substantially worse at Facebook than what I had seen before. Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety,” Haugen had told 60 Minutes.This is not the first time leaked documents have been criticised by tech giants. Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed his displeasure over employees who leak crucial information about the company. Cook in an email to Apple employees has said that the company is everything in its power to hunt down the leakers. He also noted that the people who leak confidential information do not belong at Apple. Ironically, Cook’s email to Apple to employees about the leakers was also leaked by the employees.Click here for our site’s complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.