When Frances Haugen went public with tens of thousands of documents spelling out what Facebook knew about the effects of its platform, she said the surprise was that those documents didn’t really say anything new.

Social media activists for years had been talking about the effects of social media apps on teenagers, political polarization and disinformation.

“It’s hard to reconcile it with the people I used to work with – great coworkers, wonderful human beings,” she said. “How is it that a whole company of kind compassionate people trying to do the right thing can cause such chaos?”

Haugen, an expert in algorithmic product management, delivered a talk at Sloss Tech 2024 on her work with the tech giant.

She previously worked at Google, Pinterest and Yelp. In 2021, she disclosed thousands of Facebook’s internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal. Her memoir, “The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook,” was published last year.

Haugen said other industries – tangible industries, such as auto makers – have federal standards and laws that hold them accountable for the products. Cars can be tested for safety.

But information technology is, in a sense, intangible, with computer systems delivering individualized information streams according to a person’s preferences.

“There’s no longer a common frame of reference,” she said. “And when that’s the case, it becomes really easy to lie.”

She said her perspective began to change when she understood that Facebook was aware of how it had become a standard source for news in parts of Africa and Asia. Facebook groups, which choose news to share on the site, may be directed by algorithms without fact checking whether the information is accurate or factual.

“We’ve seen escalating amounts of violence over the last 10 years,” she said. Tasked with finding a solution, she was told the problem couldn’t really be solved in a measurable way.

“What are we supposed to do? Just walk away?” she said.

Haugen said members of Gen Z may be the answer to many of Big Tech’s thornier problems. Members of that generation do not have the social cohesion of previous generations – with large amounts of student debt and less job stability. So they may be less likely to keep corporate secrets and look the other way.

“Lies are not competitive advantages. Lies are liabilities. You think they’re free, but you just haven’t paid for them yet,” she said. “Does your organization make space for negative information? Do you know whether your companies feel comfortable getting bad news?”

Haugen said Congress is currently considering the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require tech companies to design and operate platforms used by minors to prevent problems such as sexual exploitation and online bullying.