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Facebook whistleblower: 'I want to start a youth movement'
What exactly does one do after leaking thousands of documents from the world's most powerful social media company? For Frances Haugen, the answer is obvious.
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US whistleblower and former Facebook engineer Frances Haugen gives an interview in Paris, on November 12, 2021. (AFP/Joel Saget)
W
hat exactly does one do after leaking thousands of documents from the world's most powerful social media company? For Frances Haugen, the answer is obvious: start a youth movement.
Facebook has faced stinging criticism over the whistleblower's document drop, not least the revelations that the company knew its Instagram photo app had the potential to harm teen mental health.
Ex-Facebook engineer Haugen believes young people have more reason than anyone else to pressure social media companies to do better.
"I want to start a youth movement," she told AFP in a wide-ranging interview, adding that youngsters who have grown up online should not feel so "powerless" over the social networks enmeshed in their lives.
Haugen has spent nearly two months in the spotlight over her claims that Facebook has consistently prioritised profits over people's safety, and supporters and foes alike are wondering what comes next.
The interview on Friday at a luxury Paris hotel, carefully watched by her lawyer, came at the end of a European tour that was managed by a slick public relations team, with financial backing from the philanthropic organisation of eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar.
Haugen, 37, has addressed lawmakers in London, Brussels and Paris, as well as a cheering crowd of thousands at a Lisbon tech conference.
