Capitol insurrection: Whistleblower's accusations of Facebook lowering safeguards before riots to air on '60 Minutes'

Misinformation online appears to be one of the contributing factors that culminated in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. The CBS program “60 Minutes” will be airing its interview with a whistleblower alleging that Facebook lowered its safeguards prior to the Capitol riots.

Over the weekend, CBS released a teaser for the upcoming 60 Minutes interview of Scott Pelley with the unidentified Facebook whistleblower who reportedly has a trove of documents to back their allegation on the social media platform. At the same time, the New York Times reported that the social network was also anticipating another round of accusations from the whistleblower. Facebook has responded that they will be preparing their defense against the accusations.

“The whistleblower, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, planned to accuse the company of relaxing its security safeguards for the 2020 election too soon after Election Day, which then led it to be used in the storming of the US Capitol on Jan 6, according to the internal memo obtained by the New York Times. The whistleblower planned to discuss the allegations on ‘60 Minutes’ on Sunday, the memo said and was also set to say Facebook had contributed to the political polarization in the United States,” reported the outlet.

The New York Times went on to report that the whistleblower has shared thousands of pages worth of documents with lawmakers as well as another outlet, the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has also published pieces based on the documents provided that showed how Facebook was aware of how its apps and services could potentially harm users.

The supporters of twice-impeached former President Donald Trump and his allies have looked to paint the insurrectionists who have been arrested and detained as “political prisoners” to this day. This included making insurrectionist Ashlii Babbitt, who was one of the five people who were killed from the riots, a “martyr.” A small rally in Kansas also occurred Saturday at the Kansas statehouse, arguing that federal prosecutors were being unfair to the insurrectionists who broke into the Capitol.

Over 650 people, including Kansas residents, were charged for their participation in the insurrection that also left dozens of law enforcement officials who responded severely injured.