First Amendment:
The former employee of the multinational, France Haugen, announced before the US Senate that Facebook prioritizes its profits over the interest of the people. France 24 shows the numbers of the tech giant who is experiencing one of its least visible hours.
When a former Facebook worker told a US Senate subcommittee that the company repeatedly “misleads” the public about the harmful effects of its platforms, what it did was put its finger on a long-standing sore: the power of multinational corporations about their users’ information.
In her Senate testimony, Frances Haugen stressed that during her time at Facebook she realized a “disruptive truth”: that the multinational is hiding information from the public and governments.
The tech founder, Mark Zuckerberg, defended himself against the accusations through his personal account. “The crux of these claims is the idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. This is simply not true.”
But what profits is Francis Hogan talking about? Here is a review:
In 2020, this company generated about $86 billion in revenue, the vast majority of which came from advertisers. Of that total, about a third are earnings, which are up 58% over the previous year.
The number of daily active users reached 1,840 million at the end of 2020, a number that actually rose in the second quarter of 2021 to 1,910 million.
Meanwhile, the company’s stock on Wall Street has recovered more than 2% after falling nearly 5% the day before. However, in the past year, the level of security has increased by almost 30%.
Facebook – with its linked social networks Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – as well as Twitter and Alphabet – Google’s parent company – have enjoyed a remarkable boom during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With EFE, Reuters
