In the Wall Street Journal and Wired’s investigation and of the Facebook files, the authors argue that despite the company’s knowledge of the internal issues, the platform continues to harm and exploit users with the desire to continue growing.

The Wall Street Journal has a negative view on Facebook in general, and many of the articles in the investigation even suggest that Facebook is putting its users in danger. For example, one article talked about the company enabling drug, organ and pornography selling via Facebook, and another talked about how Facebook services are used to spread religious hate messages in India. In addition to causing users danger, one author argues that Facebook has an elite group that is exempt from the basic rules of the platform, shielding many VIPs from censoring and thus allowing them to post material including harassment and violence. A few authors argue that Facebook targets vulnerable populations, including tweens and teen girls via Instagram. Overall, the authors for WSJ argue that the heads of the company knew about many of these issues, and turned a blind eye to them.

In the Wired coverage of the Facebook papers, the authors speak about the repeated failings of Facebook in addressing issues, especially ones that were brought to attention by employees. One post explains how many Facebook employees left the company shaken up, saying they could not stay in good conscience after their worries went unheard. Another story explains how growth was wanted at any cost, including hurting developing nations who used the platform. Overall, the Wall Street Journal and Wired covered the Facebook papers with a similar sentiment, criticizing the company for prioritizing growth and popularity over the well being of its users.