The Power of One

The inside story of one woman’s battles against Big Tech, by the Facebook whistleblower who is determined to help us all retake control of our lives.

In the spring of 2021, when news outlets feasted on “the Facebook Files,” Frances Haugen went public as the former employee who blew the whistle on the company by copying tens of thousands of documents. She testified to Congress and spoke to the media. She was hailed at President Biden’s first State of the Union Address. She made sure everyone understood exactly what the documents revealed: Facebook not only set its algorithm to reward extremism, it knew that its customers were using the platform to foment violence, to spread falsehoods, to diminish the self-esteem of young women, and more. But how was it that Frances was the only employee at the company who dared to step forward?

The answer to that question is an inspiring tale of one young woman’s life, and the choices she made. From an unhappy home to an unaccredited college, to one of just a few women at Google in its heyday, Frances Haugen learned how to focus on what mattered, and to ignore her critics. 

Every Choice Matters is equally inspiring—the story of a woman who went against the grain, again and again, and changed the world—and horrifying, as the culture and practices of Facebook are brought to the bright light of day, for the first time.

About the Author

Frances Haugen is an American data engineer and scientist, and whistleblower. A graduate of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Harvard Business School, she worked at Google, Yelp, and Pinterest before joining Facebook in 2019 and working in its civic integrity department. In the spring of 2021, she disclosed tens of thousands of internal documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Wall Street Journal, revealing Facebook’s awareness and complicity in radicalization and political violence around the world.