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Facebook whistleblower sits atop publicity juggernaut
Haugen's leak of company records has benefited from well-oiled communications machinery, powerful backers and a lucky crypto currency bet -- even if it's far from certain whether she will induce her stated goal: to reform Facebook.
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Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen appears before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee at the Russell Senate Office Building on October 05, 2021 in Washington, DC. Haugen left Facebook in May and provided internal company documents about Facebook to journalists and others, alleging that Facebook consistently chooses profit over safety. (AFP/Matt McClain-Pool/Getty Images/)
E
x-Facebook worker Frances Haugen strode on stage to roaring applause in Portugal, the latest step in a trajectory that has diverged sharply from that of other high-profile whistleblowers who wound up in exile or ruin.
Haugen's leak of company records has benefited from well-oiled communications machinery, powerful backers and a lucky crypto currency bet -- even if it's far from certain whether she will induce her stated goal: to reform Facebook.
The internal reports captured by her smartphone camera and handed to journalists have already resulted in a deluge of damning stories with the common argument that Facebook executives knew the platform could hurt teens, ethnic minorities, or democracy but were more concerned about profits.
Yet instead of winding up destitute or fearing prosecution, 37-year-old Haugen has become a media-savvy figurehead on a world tour of the backlash against the leading social media giant.
"It's definitely not a David versus Goliath situation -- she is so much more organized and in a position to have power," said Vigjilenca Abazi, a senior international fellow at Government Accountability Project, a US whistleblower protection organization.
In a matter of weeks Haugen has testified before the US Congress and the British Parliament, with European Union lawmakers inviting her for a November 8 appearance.
In between, she made the time to be interviewed on stage before a clapping, full house at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon.
