Facebook whistleblower to accuse company of fueling Jan. 6 Capitol riot


A Facebook whistleblower is set to accuse the social media giant of helping to fuel the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol by “polarizing” the nation — and has the company’s panicked bosses scrambling to do damage control.

The former employee, who is scheduled to reveal her identity on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, has already filed reams of anonymous complaints against the company with federal authorities.

She’s now going public with her claims.

In anticipation of the potentially damning disclosures, Facebook’s vice president of policy and global affairs told CNN on Sunday that the claims over Jan. 6 are “ludicrous.”

“The insurrection on that day lies squarely with the people who inflicted the violence and those who encouraged them, including President Trump,” Nick Clegg told the network.

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
According to a whistleblower, the social media giant Facebook helping to fuel the riot by "polarizing" the nation,
According to a whistleblower, the social media giant Facebook helped to fuel the riot by “polarizing” the nation,
Jon Cherry/Getty Images

“I think it gives people false confidence to assume that there must be a technological or technical explanation for the issues of political polarization in the United States,” he said.

But Clegg also conceded that social media companies, including Facebook, “have a responsibility to understand where we contributed to negative and extreme content or hate speech or misinformation and so on.”

The whistleblower is expected to tell CBS host Scott Pelley that the company dropped the ball in that regard.

The failed January 6, 2021 riot caused almost $1.5 million in damages to the US capitol building.
The failed January 6, 2021 riot caused almost $1.5 million in damages to the US Capitol building.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The whistleblower is set to go public on the October 3, 2021 broadcast of CNN's "60-minutes."
The whistleblower is set to go public on the October 3, 2021 broadcast of CBS’ “60-minutes.”
Samuel Corum/Getty Images

She said the internal documents show that the company is aware that its practices “amplify” polarization and spread hate in society, but looks the other way for profit.

Among her gripes is Facebook’s decision to remove barriers to cut down on misinformation on the site after the 2020 election, helping to spark dissent in advance of the Jan. 6 riot.

The broadcast will air at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

With Post Wires