Facebook's former director of monetization says Facebook intentionally made its product as addictive as cigarettes — and now he fears it could cause 'civil war'

[JoelR]

https://www.businessinsider.com/former-facebook-exec-addictive-as-cigarettes-tim-kendall-2020-9?utm_source=reddit.com

Facebook's former director of monetization Tim Kendall says he had a role in making Facebook as addictive as cigarettes — and worries that Facebook could be just as damaging to its users.

In a testimony before the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee published Thursday, Kendall accused Facebook of building algorithms that have facilitated the spread of misinformation, encouraged divisive rhetoric, and laid the groundwork for a "mental health crisis."

"We took a page from Big Tobacco's playbook, working to make our offering addictive at the outset," Kendall said in prepared remarks submitted to lawmakers ahead of Thursday's hearing. "The social media services that I and others have built over the past 15 years have served to tear people apart with alarming speed and intensity. At the very least, we have eroded our collective understanding — at worst, I fear we are pushing ourselves to the brink of a civil war."

Kendall, who is now CEO of the time management app Moment, joined Facebook as its first director of monetization in 2006 and remained in the role until 2010. Kendall said he initially thought his role would involve balancing Facebook's interest in revenue with the wellbeing of its users, but that Facebook was interested in profits over everything.