Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen Says She Is Financially Stable Because of Crypto

The former Facebook employee reportedly moved to Puerto Rico to join her crypto friends and to deal with a health condition.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 26 October 2021 20:19 IST

Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen Says She Is Financially Stable Because of Crypto

Photo Credit: Reuters

Frances Haugen is supporting herself in Puerto Rico with cryptocurrencies

Highlights

Haugen denied claims that she was financially dependent
Frances Haugen lauds her well-timed crypto-investment
Haugen isn't the first whistleblower to rely on crypto investments

Facebook's former product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen has revealed that her refuge in Puerto Rico is "fine for the foreseeable future" because of a well-timed investment in cryptocurrency. The whistleblower who's made headlines recently for calling out Facebook's "betrayal of democracy", made her crypto investment known in an interview where she asserted that she is not reliant financially on anyone. Haugen did not disclose specifics of her crypto-related investments but mentioned it to end rumours of financial dependence.

In an interview with the New York Times Haugen revealed that she moved to Puerto Rico to join her "crypto friends" apart from dealing with an ongoing health issue. She also mentioned being funded by non-profit organisations supported by eBay founder Omidyar, but said that assistance only covered her travel expenses.

Haugen, who worked as a product manager on Facebook's civic misinformation team, provided documents used in a Wall Street Journal investigation for months and also appeared at a Senate hearing on Instagram's harm to teen girls. Haugen claims that Facebook's closed design means it has no oversight — even from its own Oversight Board, which is as blind as the public.

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The whistleblower went on to allege that Facebook knows how to make its platforms safer, but won't do so "because they have put their astronomical profits before people."

During her testimony, Haugen also suggested that Facebook made changes to its "dangerous" algorithms that contributed to divisiveness in society, and realised these tweaks kept people returning to the platform.

This isn't the first time a whistleblower has lauded cryptocurrency despite all its presumed falsities. Edward Snowden, a former NSA and CIA computer intelligence consultant and presumably one of the best-known whistleblowers also managed to sustain financially because of his Bitcoin investments in the past.

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