Democracy Dies in Darkness

Facebook whistleblower alleges executives misled investors about climate, covid hoaxes in new SEC complaint

Legal experts called the filings a ‘creative’ approach to holding the tech giant accountable for misinformation

February 18, 2022 at 7:00 a.m. EST
Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testifies during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
8 min

A pair of whistleblower complaints filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this month allege Facebook misled investors about its efforts to combat climate change and covid-19 misinformation, according to redacted copies of the documents viewed by The Washington Post.

Filed by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit representing former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, the complaints allege that the company made “material misrepresentations and omissions in statements to investors” about its efforts to combat misinformation. The complaints, which have not been previously reported, build on Haugen’s congressional testimony and filings her lawyers submitted to the financial regulator last year, and they draw from thousands of internal documents that she took before leaving the company in May.