Frances Haugen—Leaked tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents exposing platform harms
In 2021, Frances Haugen copied tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents and provided them to the SEC, Congress, and journalists. Known as the 'Facebook Papers,' these documents revealed Facebook knew Instagram was harmful to teen mental health (13.5% of teen girls said it worsened suicidal thoughts), that the platform's algorithms amplified divisive content, and that safety measures were weakened after the 2020 election. She appeared on 60 Minutes on October 3, 2021, and testified before Congress on October 5, 2021. Facebook's market cap dropped approximately $6 billion following the revelations.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| User Autonomy | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Whistleblower Protection | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +1.020 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.68)
Evidence (2 signals)
Frances Haugen testified before Senate Commerce Committee on Facebook's harms
On October 5, 2021, Frances Haugen testified before the Senate Commerce subcommittee, telling senators that Facebook's products 'harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy.' She presented internal research showing Facebook knew Instagram was harmful to teens.
Frances Haugen revealed identity on 60 Minutes as Facebook whistleblower
Frances Haugen appeared on CBS 60 Minutes on October 3, 2021, revealing herself as the source who leaked tens of thousands of Facebook internal documents. She stated that Facebook 'over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.'