10-2-2021
'60 Minutes' to air whistleblower alleging
Facebook relaxed safeguards before
Jan 6 attack.
The CBS News program "60 Minutes"
released a tease on Saturday of a yet-to-air
Scott Pelley interview with
a Facebook whistleblower who reportedly
has thousands of pages of documents.
Also on Saturday, The New York Times reported
that Facebook was "bracing for new accusations
over the weekend from the whistle-blower and said
in a memo that it was preparing to mount a vigorous
defense."
"The whistle-blower, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, planned to accuse the company
of relaxing its security safeguards for the 2020 election
too soon after Election Day, which then led it to be used
in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according
to the internal memo obtained by The New York Times.
The whistle-blower planned to discuss the allegations on '60 Minutes' on Sunday, the memo said, and was also set to say
that Facebook had contributed to political polarization in the United States," the newspaper reported.
The "60 Minutes" interview is set to air Sunday evening.
"Facebook has been in an uproar for weeks because of the whistle-blower, who has shared thousands of pages of
company documents with lawmakers and
The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal has published a series of articles based on the documents, which show that Facebook knew how its apps
and services could cause harm, including worsening body
image issues among teenage girls
using Instagram," The Times reported.
"Facebook anticipated more allegations during the whistle-blower's "60 Minutes" interview, according
to the memo.
The whistle-blower, who plans to reveal her identity during the interview, was set to say that Facebook had turned off some of
its safety measures around the election such as limits on live video too soon after Election Day, the memo said.
That allowed for misinformation to flood the platform and for groups to congregate online and plan the Jan. 6 storming of
the Capitol building."
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