According to the former Facebook team member and whistleblower Frances Haugen, Meta is underinvesting in the safety and security of its social media platforms in abroad regions, which means Australians have fewer channels for action.
Haugen, who accused Facebook of prioritising profits above people last year, told an Australian parliamentary investigation on Thursday that the company’s budget “disproportionately” favoured the US.
She was referring to Meta’s promise to spend $5 billion (A$7 billion) on safety and security in 2021, after spending more than US$13 billion on personnel and technology in these areas since 2016.
“The reality is that Facebook wants to brag about spending $5 billion on safety in the next year, but they disregard the fact that they’re performing cash buybacks of $75 billion,” she added.
“So there are scenarios where Facebook must spend that $5 billion to different types of safety services, different numbers of [content] reviewers, and the truth is that they are not required to publish… figures.”
“It can constantly underinvest in safety, and notably in safety outside the United States since its safety budget is spent disproportionately on keeping the United States safe.”
“And I’m confident that on a per capita basis, there is less aid, support, and safety for Australians, and since Facebook knows it runs in the shadows and doesn’t have to disclose the truth about anything, they continue to spend in this way.”
Artificial intelligence is another area in which Haugen believes that while it is not intrinsically highly clever, it may be educated to be “quite precise” depending on how much money is invested and whether the proper procedures are utilised.
Haugen also used her attendance before the inquiry to restate her worries about Meta’s co-development of legislation, claiming that “self-regulation does not work” and that any regulation should be “independent of tech companies.”
“Any regime in which they set the rules will fail,” she said, adding that “regulation must address the algorithms and design characteristics that permitted misinformation, hatred, and the exploitation of personal data.”
When asked if Australia’s co-regulatory approach to digital platforms would help bring about change, Haugen replied she was “very doubtful that you would achieve anything near to what you need if you let them make the rules.”
