A recent whistleblower complaint alleges that Facebook’s parent company Meta misled investors about its efforts to combat climate change and COVID-19 misinformation.
Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit group representing a former Facebook Product Manager turned whistleblower, Frances Haugen, filed the latest complaints with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month.
A Washington Post report states that Facebook made ‘material misrepresentations’ while omitting information regarding its attempts to stem misinformation on its platforms in investor statements. Redacted copies of the documents were cited by the Post.
Whistleblower Aid confirmed that the complaints had been submitted to the SEC, claiming that investors had every legal right to the truth from the company. The SEC, however, declined to comment on the matter.
Senior counsel at Whistleblower Aid Andrew Bakaj commented:
“The documents shared with the SEC make it clear that Facebook was saying one thing in private and another in public regarding its approach to climate change and COVID-19 misinformation.”
Despite execs’ multiple statements that they were committed to tackling the ‘global crisis,’ one complaint claims that climate change misinformation was prominently available on Facebook. Another complaint alleges that internal documents provided insight into the dissemination of COIVD-19 misinformation, such as vaccine hesitancy.
Meta spokesperson, Drew Pusateri, in an emailed statement, said:
“There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to stopping the spread of misinformation, but we’re committed to building new tools and policies to combat it.”
The spokesperson added that the company is committed to fighting misinformation and also highlighted the efforts of the Climate Science Center.