For years, advocates, researchers, and civil-society groups have sounded the alarm on the deranging effects of social media: degraded attention, negative mental health, polarization for profit, and the collapse of our shared reality into fragments. Social media companies have continuously denied and obfuscated reality. But Frances Haugen disclosed the truth—20,000 pages of truth.
Her act of courage in sharing those documents with regulators and journalists opened the eyes of the world to the insidious ways Meta (and its platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) put its profits above the physical and emotional well-being of its 3 billion users worldwide.
Frances’ brave decision to come forward publicly—and her continued advocacy for more humane technology—are mobilizing people to take action. Her knowledge, passion, and relentless optimism give me and people around the world hope that change is possible.
Harris is president and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology
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