Frances Haugen Says Facebook's Real Problem Is Design, Not Bad Posts

Five years after leaking the Facebook Papers, Frances Haugen is back with a message that flips the usual debate. Speaking with Reason’s Robby Soave, she argues that the core danger of social media isn’t bad speech, it’s the design: virality rewards, compulsive engagement loops, and algorithms that recommend whatever keeps you scrolling. Her fix? Change how the platforms are built, not just what gets posted, so harm goes down without anyone getting censored.

Haugen isn’t calling for a full ban on social media for minors, and that’s a notable stance given her worries about children’s safety, foreign influence operations, political misinformation, and Facebook’s habit of recommending extreme content. Instead, she wants real transparency into how platforms rank and recommend what ends up in your feed. With Aaron Sorkin’s filmThe Social Reckoningabout her story heading to theaters, this argument is about to reach a way bigger audience.

So we want to hear from you: do you think the app is the problem, or is it how the app is built? Drop your take in the comments and we might read it on air.