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United States Frances Haugen is a data engineer and product manager known for advocating for accountability and transparency in social media.
Frances Haugen worked on ranking algorithms at Google, contributing to products such as Google Ads, Google Book Search, and Google+, and co-authored a patent for a method of adjusting search result rankings.
Frances Haugen worked on ranking algorithms at Pinterest, applying her expertise in algorithmic product management.
Frances Haugen worked on ranking algorithms at Yelp, focusing on improving search using image recognition.
Frances Haugen was a lead Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, and later worked on counter-espionage at Facebook. She became a whistleblower, disclosing internal documents that formed 'The Facebook Files' and testifying against the company's practices.
Established by Frances Haugen, Beyond the Screen is a non-profit organization dedicated to holding social media platforms accountable and raising awareness about the harms of social media.
Frances Haugen joined the Council for Responsible Social Media, a project by Issue One, to address the negative mental, civic, and public health impacts of social media in the United States.
Frances Haugen was born in Iowa City, Iowa, to two professors, which instilled in her an early appreciation for democratic participation. She pursued her education in electrical and computer engineering at Olin College, graduating in 2006, and later earned an MBA from Harvard University in 2011. Her career in algorithmic product management began at Google, where she worked on various projects including Google Ads, Google Book Search, and Google+, and co-authored a patent for adjusting search result rankings. Following her time at Google, she contributed to Yelp in 2015, focusing on improving search functionalities using image recognition, and then moved to Pinterest in 2016.
In 2019, Frances Haugen joined Facebook, motivated by personal experiences with online misinformation. She worked as a lead Product Manager on the Civic Misinformation team, which addressed issues related to democracy and the spread of false information, and also on counter-espionage efforts. During her tenure, she grew concerned that Facebook’s decisions prioritized profits over public safety. This alarm led her to become a whistleblower, providing internal company documents to The Wall Street Journal, which resulted in “The Facebook Files” investigation. She publicly identified herself in October 2021 on “60 Minutes.
Since revealing her identity, Frances Haugen has engaged with lawmakers globally, testifying before the US Congress, UK and EU Parliaments, and the French Senate and National Assembly. She filed multiple complaints with the US Federal Government against Facebook (now Meta), alleging that the company misled the public and investors regarding its handling of critical issues such as climate change, misinformation, hate speech, and the impact of its services on the mental health of children and young adults. In 2023, she released her memoir, “The Power of One.” She continues to advocate for systemic change, believing that social media can be configured to benefit humanity.
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