Hawkeye Reporter

Iowa City native Frances Haugen has made national news alleging Facebook magnifies the kind of hate and misinformation that led to the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January.

Haugen was identified on a "60 Minutes" broadcast Oct. 3 as the person who filed complaints with federal authorities that Facebook’s own research showed the pattern of misinformation.

Haugen, who testified before Congress this week, alleged that when Facebook is forced to make a choice between doing a public good and profits, they always choose money, KHAK reported.

Haugen began working for Facebook in 2019 after stops at Google and Pinterest. She resigned from Facebook in May. In her interview with "60 Minutes," Haugen stated that "Facebook, over and over again, has shown it chooses profit over safety,” KHAK reported.

Haugen’s declarations became an instant topic on social media.

“Facebook own research is showing that content that is hateful, that is divisive, that is polarizing, it’s easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions,” twitter user Sarvajeet D Chandra tweeted.

Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook, did not reveal her identity when she filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission against Facebook and shared internal Facebook documents with The Wall Street Journal, Radio Iowa reported. She graduated from Iowa City West High School in 2002 and has an electrical and computer engineering degree from Olin College and an MBA from Harvard.