Facebook profits top $9bn despite facing a slew of damaging claims from ex-employee whistleblower

Facebook has announced third quarter earnings of $9billion despite a series of blistering allegations from former employee turned whisleblower Frances Haugen. 

The company’s net income for the three months ending on September 31 was up from $7.8billion for the same period in 2020 thanks to a boom in online advertising which has resulted in a revenue of $29.01billion, a 35 percent year-on-year rise.

The US firm has also seen a 6 percent rise in daily users reaching an average of 1.93billion in September 2021, despite concerns that young people are being turned off the site.

But the financial success comes amid major backlash for the social media giant after documents leaked by Haugen claimed Mark Zuckerberg regularly placed profits over safety.

Speaking before British MPs, she said the tech firm’s algorithms help foster political dissent, contribute to mental health and emotional problems among teenagers and can lead to real-world violence in volatile regions.

Reacting to the news of Facebook’s profits soaring, Tory MP Damian Collins, chair of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, told MailOnline: ‘This really reinforces Frances Haugen’s point in front of the Committee yesterday, that Facebook executives are addicted to their engagement-based model, and will do anything to please advertisers. 

‘If we want to change that market, we need to change the way content is regulated. 

‘Also, yesterday’s results don’t necessarily demonstrate advertisers’ support of Facebook’s business model – rather it is a symptom of a broken online ads market, dominated by a small group of tech giants. If we want real change, we have to regulate the markets as well as the content.’

Among her damning claims, it was claimed yesterday: 

Instagram may ‘never be safe for 14-year-olds’ because it turns them into addicts and bullying follows them home;Facebook’s algorithm prioritises hate speech by showing people content based on how much engagement it has received;  This led conservatives to be inundated with conspiracy theories from QAnon and other far-right content;Facebook is reluctant to sacrifice ‘even slithers of profit’ to prioritise online safety and ‘unquestionably’ makes online hate worse;  ‘Underinvestment’ in foreign languages means Facebook is less able to monitor content not in US English;Facebook is used as a platform to traffic maids in the Middle East despite company promising to crack down.

Jake Moore, cyber security specialist at ESET, added: ‘As with any business, companies follow the money and Facebook is no different. However, the problem here is that Facebook is more powerful than most companies and has strong social and political influences on the platform. 

‘The algorithm within lies it’s DNA driving the business and it is clear that it is driving profits higher than ever. 

‘Until the tables are turned or large numbers of people flee the platform, it is likely to continue steering its users towards such targeted content which can be difficult to avoid.’

Yesterday, Haugen added that Instagram ‘may never be safe for 14-year-olds’ as she said the tech giant’s own research found children are turning to addicts and bullying was ‘following them into their bedrooms’. 

The data engineer went public earlier this year with thousands of pages of internal research documents she secretly copied before quitting her job in the firm’s civic integrity unit.

She spoke before British MPs yesterday where she accused Facebook of being unwilling to sacrifice ‘even a slither of profit’ for safety improvements.

Her appearance coincided with her release of a fresh trove of documents which sensationally revealed CEO Mark Zuckerberg ‘personally intervened’ to allow US right wingers to ‘say what they wanted’ on the platform. 

The memos – which have been dubbed ‘the Facebook Papers’ and comprise internal research she secretly copied while working at the firm’s ‘integrity unit’ – also revealed how bosses ignored internal complaints from staff for years to put profits first, ‘lied’ to investors and sought to shield Mr Zuckerberg from public scrutiny. 

They also show how staff complained to Facebook executives about the company’s collective failure to anticipate the January 6 riot, how staff worried about the lack of policing on hate speech, and how the product was becoming less popular among young people.

Facebook says the documents have been taken out of context and are part of a ‘game of gotcha’ by the media.

As the documents emerged on Monday, Haugen told British lawmakers that she is ‘extremely concerned’ about how Facebook ranks content based on ‘engagement’, saying it fuels hate speech and extremism, particularly in non-English-speaking countries.

Some of the most damning comments were posted on January 6, the day of the Capitol riot, when staff told Zuckerberg and other executives on an internal messaging board that they blamed themselves for the violence.

‘One of the darkest days in the history of democracy and self-governance. History will not judge us kindly,’ said one worker while another said: ‘We’ve been fueling this fire for a long time and we shouldn’t be surprised it’s now out of control’.

The mountains of crises the company has been buried with over the last few years has prompted some to demand that it rebrand and change its name.

One of its most recent disasters was a tech-driven mistake that brought its entire network down for several hours around the world, costing businesses billions and putting it into stark perspective just how much the world relies on the company to communicate.

Facebook has repeatedly resisted calls to break its products up and says it should be able to police itself.

On Monday, tech experts said the revelations from the papers show Zuckerberg’s relentless ambition.

‘Ultimately, it rests with Mark and whatever his prerogative is – and it has always been to grow, to increase his power and his reach,’ Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor who’s followed Facebook closely for years, said.