Facebook under Government Investigation, Filings Show
Big tech giant being investigated over leaked documents and complaints
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Big Tech giant Facebook is currently under government investigation, new financial filings have revealed.
According to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Facebook is being investigated over a series of recent scandals and complaints.
The company’s 10-Q form, filed with the SEC on Tuesday, shows Facebook is “subject to government investigations and requests.”
The investigations appear to be related to recent documents leaks and employee complaints about Facebook's manipulation of its NewsFeed algorithm.
The filing appears to note the documents leaked by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen that detail Facebook’s business practices and internal research.
“For example, beginning in September 2021, we became subject to government investigations and requests relating to a former employee’s allegations and release of internal company documents concerning, among other things, our algorithms, advertising and user metrics, and content enforcement practices, as well as misinformation and other undesirable activity on our platform, and user well-being,” Facebook's form states.
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It is not clear from the filing which government entity or entities, or even which government, is investigating the company.
Facebook has not commented publicy on the investigations.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is at least one of the entities investigating Facebook, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The report cites "people familiar with the matter" but the FTC declined to comment.
The agency is reportedly investigating Facebook for the alleged negative effects its platform has on users in addition to whether it violated the terms of a $5 billion privacy settlement with the FTC in 2019, the WSJ reported.
The agency has also reportedly been communicating with Frances Haugen’s “team.”
The "team" of leftists includes Democratic operative Bill Burton and Whistleblower Aid lawyer Mark Zaid.
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Haugen filed whistleblower complaints with the SEC which allege that Facebook executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, misled investors.
She claims the company is misrepresenting its content moderation policies and how its algorithms worked.
Haugen also accused the social media giant of dividing society "for profit" by manipulating the information flow on the platform.
