News and journalism
Facebook paid contractors to listen to your audio chats on its Messenger app
CBS News, CBS News, 2019
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A news report, published in August 2019, on Bloomberg's finding that Facebook paid outside contractors to transcribe audio clips from Messenger users who had opted in to voice transcription. It includes Facebook's statement that it had paused the human review.
- How much weight it carries
- A national news report that relays Bloomberg's reporting and a Facebook spokesperson's statement. Facebook's account of anonymized clips and an opt-in is its own claim, and the report does not give the number of clips reviewed.
Facts taken from this source
- In August 2019, Facebook said it had paused human review of audio from Messenger more than a week before its statement, and that it would follow Apple and Google in curtailing the practice.
“paused human review of audio more than a week ago” (Facebook spokesperson statement)