On 13 September 2021, the Wall Street Journal began releasing ‘The Facebook Files.’

An exposé based on emails, documents, and memos leaked by former employee Frances Haugen. The investigation alleges a culture where profit is prioritised over responsibility to the public good at every turn.

What do charities need to know?

There is a lot of detail for charities to unpick in the series of reports, but this is an overview of the basics: 

“X CHECK”

The investigation identifies the ‘cross check’ or ‘x-check’ programme used to make high-profile individuals exempt from standard moderation practices.

This allows them to post content containing harassment or incitement to violence without facing the same automatic penalties as other users. 

INSTAGRAM IS TOXIC FOR TEEN GIRLS

Haugen alleges that Facebook buried research on how Instagram makes young girls feel about their bodies. The research found that 32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.

2018 ALGORITHM CHANGE LED TO A MORE DIVISIVE PLATFORM

In 2018, a significant change to Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm was designed to push more content from family and friends to the top of the newsfeed. It also placed more value on reshares. Information from Haugen suggests that these tweaks had the adverse effect of prioritising divisive political content and provoking angry reactions.

IGNORING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

Haugen has also shared evidence alleging that Facebook was aware of criminal activity, particularly in developing countries and failed to step in to remove flagged groups and content or to report them to the relevant authorities.

The investigation points to a discrepancy between vast and growing user bases outside the US and minimal capacity to moderate. In some cases moderators, often contract staff, have no local knowledge or understanding of the local dialect.

FAILURE TO COMBAT MISINFORMATION

Facebook actively invested in supporting the US vaccine programme, but were in fact flooded with anti-vax comments and misinformation. The investigation alleges that they proved unable or unwilling to moderate misinformation effectively.

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How can charities respond?

For many charities, Facebook and Instagram are important platforms for raising funds and connecting with the people they support. The Wall Street Journal and Sixty Minutes exposé raises difficult ethical questions – should charities still use these platforms? What are the risks to staff and volunteers?

Acting Executive Director at Digital Action, Nick Martlew says: “Each of the stories in the Wall Street Journal was packed with reasons to be angry and upset at the impact one corporation knowingly has on our democracies, on children, on human rights defenders.

“No matter what issue you work on, it’s made harder by the online world being unsafe, unreliable, and unaccountable, especially for those already marginalised in society.”

Martlew encourages charities to be part of the movement to change bad practices and hold Big Tech to account.

In the UK, charity staff can share stories of online abuse, hate and misinformation with stophate.uk. Charities can also sign up to People vs Big Tech – a growing movement set up to challenge the unchecked power of Big Tech companies.

Within charities, this is another wake-up call to safeguard the wellbeing of staff and volunteers working on social media platforms as part of their roles – especially young ambassadors and volunteers.

The coalition of volunteers from across the sector who form Charities Against Hate – an organisation set up to help charities stop hate on social media – have issued this statement in response to Haugen’s allegations: “Social media plays a vital and positive role in connecting people, as well as allowing charities to raise vital funds and increase awareness, but for many, the negative effects mean that online spaces are just not safe for them to use.

“While the news right now is focusing on Facebook, in particular, the problem is not just limited to one social platform or company. It’s one thing to say that we all need to work together to combat online hate that’s perpetrated by individuals, but when that’s compounded by the knowledge that the platforms themselves are actively directing users to harmful content, that’s an indication that the way things currently work is broken.”

Charities Against Hate have developed resources to help charities safeguard staff who use social media as part of their roles. They also encourage charities to share these recommendations with the platform providers to tackle online hate and harm.

Charities have an important role to play on social media – providing expert advice to debunk misinformation and bringing people with lived experience together to support each other. But they also have powerful voices that can come together and help answer Frances Maugen’s call – to create social media that brings out the best in us.