The Power of One

Whistleblower Frances Haugen''s expose of the internal workings of Facebook revealing the company''s struggles to regain control over its platform and to stop the spread of misinformation

Auteur

Frances Haugen is an American data engineer and scientist, and whistleblower. A graduate of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Harvard Business School, she worked at Google, Yelp, and Pinterest before joining Facebook in 2019 and working in its civic integrity department. In the spring of 2021, she disclosed tens of thousands of internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal, revealing Facebook's awareness and complicity in radicalization and political violence around the world.

Texte du rabat

In September 2021, the Wall Street Journal released the Facebook Files - a huge cache of information looking at the immoral practices of Facebook - how they treated politicians favorably, how they incited violence in Ethiopia, and much more.

The person responsible for revealing these was Frances Haugen.

With this book, Haugen not only aims to expose the issues at the company, but to also educate and inspire readers to think differently about their social media use and the implications of such big companies. Because if Facebook can't or won't stop the issues, where does that leave governments and ordinary citizens.

The book will tell her personal story - about her career and the moments that led to her becoming a whistle-blower - as well as looking more into the files that she released and how we can have a different relationship with tech.

Résumé

Available now: Whistleblower Frances Haugen's searing exposé of the internal workings of Facebook revealing the company's struggles to regain control over its platform and to stop the spread of misinformation

In the spring of 2021, when news outlets feasted on "the Facebook Files," Frances Haugen went public as the former employee who blew the whistle on the company by copying tens of thousands of documents. She testified to Congress and spoke to the media. She was hailed at President Biden's first State of the Union Address. She made sure everyone understood exactly what the documents revealed: Facebook not only set its algorithm to reward extremism, it knew that its customers were using the platform to foment violence, to spread falsehoods, to diminish the self-esteem of young people, and more. But how was it that Frances was the only employee at the company who dared to step forward?

The answer to that question is an inspiring tale of one young woman's life and the choices she made. From an isolated childhood in Iowa to an unaccredited college, to one among the few women at Google in its heyday, Frances Haugen learned how to focus on what mattered, and to ignore her critics. To harness the strength of standing in the truth.

The Power of One is equally inspiring - the story of a woman who went against the grain, again and again, and changed the world - and horrifying, as the culture and practices of Facebook are brought into the bright light of day, for the first time.