Facebook VP wrote site’s actions were ‘de facto good’, even if they led to deaths
Zuckerberg says he disagrees with memo, which acknowledged site could cost lives or play role in terror attacks
Atop Facebook executive warned in a leaked memo that the platform could lead to deaths and could help terrorists plan attacks, but argued that the negative outcomes were a reasonable byproduct of the company’s broader “growth tactics” and mission to “connect” people.
The public disclosure of the 2016 memo, in which a vicepresident, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, wrote “anything that allows us to connect more people more often is de facto good”, prompted the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, to defend his company’s mission in a hastily released statement on Thursday.
Zuckerberg said Facebook “never believed the ends justify the means” and said he strongly disagreed with the memo circulated by Bosworth, whom he described as a talented but provocative force in the company.
Bosworth wrote: “Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.” The memo, which provides an insight into the philosophy among some at the Silicon Valley giant, continued: “It is literally just what we do. We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified.”
Provocative
The memo, published in full by BuzzFeed and confirmed by Facebook representatives, comes at a time when the technology corporation is battling significant backlash in the wake of reporting in the Observer and the Guardian revealing that the personal information of 50 million users was used by the electioneering firm Cambridge Analytica.
The leaked memo — which implied that Facebook was pursuing growth at all costs and defended “questionable” data practices — prompted defensive statements on Thursday from Zuckerberg and Bosworth, who claimed that the memo was meant to be “provocative” and is out of line with the company’s values.
“Boz is a talented leader who says many provocative things. This was one that most people at Facebook including myself disagreed with strongly,” said Zuckerberg, who is currently facing intense scrutiny over the data scandal and is expected to soon testify before Congress.
“We’ve never believed the ends justify the means. We recognise that connecting people isn’t enough by itself. We also need to work to bring people closer together. We changed our whole mission and company focus to reflect this last year,” he said.
Bosworth said in his statement on Thursday: “I don’t agree with the post today and I didn’t agree with it even when I wrote it.” He argued that the intent of the memo was to “bring to the surface issues I felt deserved more discussion”, adding: “I care deeply about how our product affects people and I take very personally the responsibility I have to make that impact positive.”
‘The ugly truth’
The memo, however, had a very different tone, arguing that the harms caused by Facebook were just a part of its business: “The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is de facto good.”