Facebook tries to stop internal leaks of documents
Facebook told employees it is making some internal online discussion groups private, in an effort to reduce leaks.
Many company employees join online discussion groups in Workplace, an internal message board that employees use to communicate and collaborate with one another.
In the announcement, the company said it was making some groups focused on platform safety and election protection private rather than public within the company. This limits who can view and participate in discussion topics.
The move comes on the heels of the disclosure by Frances Hogan, a former employee, of thousands of pages of internal documents to regulators, lawmakers and the media.
The documents showed that the company was aware of some of the damage it was causing. Hugin, a former member of the company’s civil integrity team, filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission. She testified before a Senate subcommittee this month.
An engineering director wrote in the ad that I checked it The New York Times: We’ve seen an increase in the number of integrity leaks in recent months.
“These leaks do not represent the nuances and complexities of our work,” he added. They are often taken out of context, which leads to our work being mischaracterized externally.
The company was known for an open culture that encouraged discussion and transparency. But she became more isolated as she faced leaks on issues such as toxic speech, misinformation, and tackling employee disruption.
The communications team in July closed comments via an internal forum used for company-wide advertising.
“The leaks make it difficult for our teams to work together,” Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesperson, said in a statement. It can externally endanger employees working on sensitive topics.
He added, “The leaks also lead to complex topics that are misinterpreted and misunderstood.” we were nPlan the changes months ago.
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Facebook has had a hard time due to internal leaks
The new announcement stated that the company plans to screen some online discussion groups to remove individuals whose work is not related to safety and security.
The announcement said: Changes will occur in the coming months. With the expectation that sensitive integrity discussions will occur in closed, coordinated forums in the future.
In internal comments, some staff supported the move. Others denounced the loss of transparency and cooperation. They described the change as counterproductive. One pointed out that it might lead to more leaks from disgruntled employees.
