Frances Haugen, a Facebook whistleblower, tweeted Monday that she would be briefing the Facebook Oversight Board.
Haugen tweeted, "I have accepted the invitation for the Facebook Oversight Board to brief me about what I learned while working there." "Facebook has repeatedly lied to the board, and I look forward to sharing the truths with them."
It is unclear when Haugen will brief Oversight Board. This independent body rules on all content cases across all Facebook platforms. Although the Oversight Board can rule on specific content cases and recommend policy changes, they are not bound to make any decisions. Haugen will likely share with them her testimony from last week's Senate hearing, in which she stated that Facebook puts revenue ahead of the well-being of its users. The briefing will focus on Facebook's crosscheck system, however, the Oversight Board stated in a statement.
Facebook's cross-check system allows it to "review content decisions that relate to some high-profile user," the Board stated in a September letter to Facebook, urging them to treat users fairly. According to the Wall Street Journal, this system allows Facebook to allow millions of high-profile users disregard the rules without any punishment.
"As a Board we will continue asking Facebook difficult questions, and push the company towards greater transparency, accountability, and fairness," wrote the Oversight Board. It is composed of 20 members including a human rights lawyer, former prime minister and a former attorney general. Only this can give users confidence that they are being treated fairly.
This comes after a chaotic few days for Facebook, where Haugen leaked internal documents and created a series of shocking reports called The Facebook Files. According to reports, Facebook refused to share internal studies that showed the social network was a danger to young people's health. Haugen disclosed last week on 60 Minutes that the documents were leaked to her. Last week, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were all shut down for almost six hours.
