A former Facebook employee told US lawmakers that Facebook’s sites and apps “harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy”, BBC has reported.

Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former product manager turned whistleblower said during a US Senate hearing that the company consistently put profit over moral responsibility.

“The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won’t make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people,” she said adding, “no one currently holding Mark accountable but himself.”

Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has rejected the accusations, saying recent coverage of painted a “false picture” of the company.

In a letter to his staff, Zuckerberg said many of the claims “don’t make any sense”, pointing to their efforts in fighting harmful content, establishing transparency and creating “an industry-leading research programme to identify these important issues