Sam McBride: Facebook is suppressing reputable journalism – and cashing in as a result

Former Facebook manager Frances Haugen became a whistleblower. Photo: Getty

Sam McBride

A few months ago, I found myself on a stage with a senior figure from Facebook. The audience included leading politicians from the UK and Ireland who were asking awkward questions about how lies are circulated on the platform, helping to make Facebook fabulously wealthy.

The senior Facebook figure said little that the company hasn’t said publicly for some time. Its gargantuan profits depend upon being able to give a defence of its actions which sounds plausible enough for it to continue doing what it does. As far back as 2016, the world’s biggest social media company was saying that it was trying to minimise news on its platform.