Frances Haugen is not the only ex-employee of Facebook to have sounded the alarm on the practices of the giant of social networks.
A former data analyst, Sophie Zhang, denounced this spring the lack of resources allocated by Facebook to the prevention of the manipulation of public opinion in developing countries.
"
I have blood on my hands,
" she wrote on the intranet of the American group the day she left.
But Sophie Zhang's cry of alarm had not received the hoped-for echo.
Read alsoGiant computer failure, controversial methods: Facebook in turmoil
It could change. Following the revelations of Frances Haugen, who was questioned last week by the US Senate, Sophie Zhang will be heard on Monday, by videoconference, by the British Parliament. “
She will be questioned about her work as a data analyst for the Integrity and False Commitments unit, where she had to deal with false accounts often managed by agencies on behalf of governments. These networks try to spread disinformation and interfere with the political life of other countries,
”British MP Damian Collins told the Washington Post. “
We want to understand what the platforms are doing and what could be improved.
"
The British Parliament will also hear Frances Haugen on October 25.
It will then be received by the European Parliament on November 8.
Documents given to the authorities
Sophie Zhang left Facebook in September 2020. “
Officially, I am a junior analyst who was fired because of her poor performance.
In fact, during the two and a half years I spent at Facebook, I discovered multiple attempts by foreign governments to abuse our platform to deceive their own citizens,
”she wrote on the day of her
visit.
start on the Facebook intranet.
The young woman deplored the lack of interest of her hierarchy for operations of manipulation or harassment of political opponents that took place in Honduras, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ukraine or Azerbaijan.
On the contrary, North America and Western Europe would be markets considered to be priorities by the group.
Sophie Zhang's long post (7,800 words) was quickly deleted from Facebook's intranet.
The analyst had made a copy of it on a website accessible with a password.
This site was deleted by its host after a complaint from Facebook.
Six months later, the whistleblower officially spoke in the Guardian, supporting documents.
But his revelations had not made much noise.
Sophie Zhang announced earlier this week that she was ready to testify in front of Congress, following Frances Haugen.
She also handed over internal Facebook documents to US authorities.
The social network defends itself by claiming "to
have deleted since 2017 more than 150 networks seeking to manipulate the public debate.
They come from more than 50 countries, and the majority of cases have taken place outside the United States.
"