Facebook whistleblower to appear before Senate, compare company to big tobacco
Haugen took aim at her former employer in an interview that aired Sunday and accused the social media giant of "tearing our societies apart"
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The Facebook employee who stepped forward as the source in a Wall Street Journal investigation into the social media giant will testify in front of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday, just a day after accusing her former employer of "tearing our societies apart."
Fox Business, citing a source, reported last month that the whistleblower, who was later identified as Frances Haugen, planned to reveal their identity as part of an agreement to cooperate with Congress. Haugen is expected to appear before the Senate Commerce Committee Consumer protection panel.
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She is expected to inform lawmakers that the social media giant faces little oversight. The Guardian, citing her written testimony, reported that she will say, "As long as Facebook is operating in the dark, it is accountable to no one. And it will continue to make choices that go against the common good."
The report also said that she will compare the company to big tobacco.
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"When we realized tobacco companies were hiding the harms it caused, the government took action. When we figured out cars were safer with seatbelts, the government took action. I implore you to do the same here."
Haugen took aim at her former employer in an interview that aired Sunday and accused the social media giant of "tearing our societies apart" in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."
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Haugen accused the company of placing profit above the good for the public, despite assurances from Facebook leadership that the company was working to make the platform safe.
The interview comes after she collected documents and blew the whistle on Facebook to the Wall Street Journal, which then published a series of reports on the files that revealed previously unknown details about the inner workings of the social media company.
In a statement responding to the 60 Minutes interview, Facebook said they "continue to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content. To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true."
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The company did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.
Fox Business' Peter Aiken, Michael Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.