Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg denies whistleblower claims, addresses outage

WASHINGTON — Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has taken to social media to respond to a whistleblower’s claims that his platform knowingly spreads misinformation and harmful content.

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In a memo to employees posted publicly on Zuckerberg’s official Facebook page, the 37-year-old CEO claimed that former product manager Frances Haugen’s testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee Tuesday painted a “false picture of the company.”

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Photos: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies before Congress Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen speaks during a hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical,” Zuckerberg wrote. “We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don’t want their ads next to harmful or angry content. And I don’t know any tech company that sets out to build products that make people angry or depressed. The moral, business and product incentives all point in the opposite direction.”

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He also said Facebook has “advocated for updated internet regulations for several years now,” pointing out that he has “testified in Congress multiple times and asked them to update these regulations.”

The response came hours after Haugen, 37, told the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection that the company’s products “harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy,” according to The Associated Press.

“The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people,” said Haugen, who first shared her concerns in an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday.

Haugen, a data scientist, added that lawmakers need to hold the social media companies accountable.

“Congressional action is needed,” she said Tuesday. “They won’t solve this crisis without your help.”

In his post Tuesday evening, Zuckerberg also addressed a six-hour global outage that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp suffered Monday.

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Photos: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg through the years Here are some memorable moments from Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's life in the public eye. (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’ve spent the past 24 hours debriefing how we can strengthen our systems against this kind of failure,” he wrote. “This was also a reminder of how much our work matters to people. The deeper concern with an outage like this isn’t how many people switch to competitive services or how much money we lose, but what it means for the people who rely on our services to communicate with loved ones, run their businesses or support their communities.”

>> Mark Zuckerberg loses billions in net worth amid Facebook outage, whistleblower news

According to Bloomberg, social media magnate’s worth fell by at least $6 billion – to $121.6 billion – as Facebook shares plunged 4.9% on Monday. Forbes reported similar figures, saying Zuckerberg’s fortune dropped to $117 billion – a $5.9 billion decline. The new numbers put him at No. 5 on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s richest people, behind Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and Bill Gates.

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– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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