Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, is launching a new initiative which aims to address some of the negative impacts of social media.

Haugen is a former product manager at Facebook who hit the headlines last year when she leaked internal documents detailing the social media company’s failures to protect teenage girls on Instagram and prevent vaccine misinformation.

The Duty of Care project aims to hold social networking platforms accountable for harmful practices and reduce social media’s negative impacts.

It will pool efforts expertise from leaders of nonprofits, academics and technology specialists who study the hurt caused by social media and work to identify the best practices to deter harmful activities, said

The initiative is the first from Haugen’s recently launched nonprofit company Beyond The Screen. Duty of Care is a collaboration with Project Liberty, an organisation working to build a new operating protocol for social networking, and Common Sense Media, which advocates for safe media content for kids.

"We are excited to partner with Project Liberty and join the growing team of interdisciplinary experts and leaders it is building," said Haugen. "With this collaboration, Duty of Care is well positioned to make social media platforms more accountable and ensure that powerful networks are optimised for the public interest."

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