WASHINGTON, D.C. | October 25, 2021 — A new Facebook whistleblower has come forward with allegations in an affidavit, obtained by The Washington Post, claiming that Facebook has allowed illegal activity to persist on their platform, corroborating Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s similar claims of misconduct and other anonymous whistleblower complaints supported by National Whistleblower Center (NWC). The Washington Post notes that the whistleblower’s submitted affidavit echoes Frances Haugen’s complaint, claiming that the company “prizes growth and profit over combating hate speech, misinformation and other threats to the public.”
Since 2017, NWC, alongside whistleblower law firm Kohn, Kohn, & Colapinto (KKC), and the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO), have assisted several anonymous whistleblowers in filing complaints with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Facebook. These disclosures allege that Facebook is profiting from hosting illegal activity and putting shareholders at risk by failing to fully disclose the amount of illegal activity the site hosts and promotes. The complaints detail how Facebook profits from and tacitly supports hate and terror content, drug trade, wildlife markets, exploitation of children, and more on the platform.
Siri Nelson, NWC Executive Director, said, “How many whistleblowers must come forward for Facebook to end this dishonesty and admit that it cannot root out this heinous and illegal activity on their platform? We commend these relentless Facebook whistleblowers for making crucial disclosures and call upon the SEC to take needed corrective action. Enforcement agencies cannot continue to treat massive tech companies like start-ups when the influence of Facebook spans billions of users and the whistleblowers’ serious allegations relate to the public good. Multi-billion-dollar sanctions are the only thing that will change conduct at companies as large as Facebook.”
In a statement, Gretchen Peters, ACCO Executive Director, said, “Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives repeatedly claimed high rates of success in restricting illicit and toxic content – to lawmakers, regulators and investors – when in fact they knew the firm could not remove this content and remain profitable.”
For more information, please contact Nick Younger at nick.younger@whistleblowers.org.
