In a defiant internal memo, a Facebook executive stated that a former employee would accuse the company for contributing to the U.S. Capitol Riot. The New York Times first reported this Saturday.
Why it matters: Facebook seems to be initiating a preemptive strike against the whistleblower in advance of a CBS interview on Sunday, and her scheduled appearance at Tuesday's Senate hearing.
Axios Markets keeps you up-to-date on the most recent market trends and economic insights. Register now for a free subscription
According to Nick Clegg (Facebook's vice president for global affairs), she will accuse the tech company of contributing to American polarization on "60 Minutes". The memo was obtained by the NYT.
Clegg stated that the program would "indicate that the extraordinary steps taken for 2020 elections were too quickly relaxed and contributed to the horrible events of January 6th at the Capitol."
According to CBS, Driving the news: The whistleblower will disclose her identity on "60 Minutes" and discuss allegations based upon thousands of pages of internal research that she provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to CBS, she claims that she can prove Facebook lies to investors and the public about its effectiveness in eradicating hate, violence, and misinformation.
Facebook is facing criticism for its internal research on Instagram's negative effect on teenage girls. This was after a whistleblower leaked a number of documents to The Wall Street Journal.
They are saying that "what evidence there is simply doesn't support the idea Facebook, or more generally social media, is the primary cause for polarization," Clegg stated in a memo sent to Friday according to the NYT.
"[P]olarizing and misinformation can also be found on platforms that have no algorithmic rank whatsoever, including private messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage."
Clegg will be appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources", Sunday morning.
Continue the story
Axios reached out to CBS and Facebook representatives but they did not respond immediately.
Go deeper: Facebook's secrecy boomerang
Axios Markets has more: Subscribe to receive the most recent market trends from Axios Markets. Register now for a free subscription
