Facebook puts profits over safety. This is the rallying cry of Facebook’s whistleblower Francis Haugen, and I agree.  

Facebook has shown that they do not care enough about the way the public is affected by what is on their platforms. As long as Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, is making money, he does not care how he gets it.  

According to Merriam Webster, a whistleblower is defined as someone who reveals a wrongdoing to law enforcement.  

Haugen spent two years working at Facebook. In her time there, she was able to copy documents and prove that Facebook knew how people had negative reactions to what was on their platforms, yet they did nothing about it.  

The documents revealed that Facebook and Instagram run an algorithm that pushes violence and mental illness to the forefront of our phone screens. Facebook should be held responsible for this.  

Francis Haugen did everyone a service by leaking files from one of the most secretive companies in the world. 

According to the National Public Radio, Haugen has leaked one Facebook study that found that about 32% of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse. 

Facebook knew they were causing people to think negatively.  

According to AP News, there was also research that showed that Facebook was aware of the misinformation and violence that was being spread on their platforms leading up to the insurrection that occurred on Jan. 6, and they did nothing to stop it. 

The Senate committee investigating these documents should hold Facebook accountable for the damage they have caused. 

Facebook has become too powerful. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook has officially become a monopoly. This means they have no competitors.  

After Facebook acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, the only competitors left in the field are Twitter and TikTok. Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide with roughly 2.89 billion monthly users as of the second quarter of 2021, according to Statista..

We rely on Facebook too heavily for our information. This is how Mark Zuckerberg was able to take advantage of all his users and value profit over safety.  

As long as people continue to flood platforms like Facebook and Instagram, then Zuckerberg will continue to make money and spread misinformation.  

The government must step in and take steps to break up the monopoly that Facebook has. This will not be easy and it will take a long time.  

According to the New York Times, many lawmakers are unsure as to how to break Facebook into smaller parts because Instagram would get most of the profits. But something has to be done and people need to be held responsible. 

Facebook has propagated mental illness and pushed an agenda that has led to the divisiveness that is so prevalent in the United States.  

It is time for lawmakers to see the significance and influence of what  is on our phone screens, and hold Facebook criminally responsible for the damage they have done to our country.