Guy Rosen is Facebook’s Vice President of Product Management. But Rosen got another title in a press release from Facebook this week. When the company issued a statement about its response to the deadly shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand., Rosen was described as Vice President of Integrity. After a Guardian journalist pointed out that Rosen’s title had changed, Facebook returned Rosen to the title of vice president of product management. The company did not explain why it had changed Rosen’s title, or why it returned to the original title.
Here’s what you need to know about Guy Rosen:
1. He’s In Charge of ‘Fighting Abuse’ & Maintaining Safety & Security at Facebook
Rosen described his role at Facebook in detail during an interview with Frontline, which you can also watch over here. He talked about the challenges of maintaining safety on social media, and said his main job was to help identify “bad content” on the site. That means making it easier for Facebook users to report “abuse” or “bad content.” But it also means building tools that use artificial intelligence to identify bad content.
Rosen said that addressing hate speech, and developing clear “community standards” to define what hate speech is, is a major challenge for social media, since it can be tough to balance the need for expression with the need for safety.
2. He Says Facebook Has a ‘Responsibility’ to Minimize Abuse on the Site
Rosen has talked a lot about the need to balance free speech with security. He told Frontline that Facebook believes in teh importance of free expression and values “robust debate.” But at the same time, Rosen said, “We [at Facebook] know we have a responsibility. Facebook brings many good things into the world. But there is also abuse and we have to minimize the bad and maximize the good. That is our job and there will be challenges. There will be adversaries who will try to evade our systems. We have to be ready and that is our responsibility. It is literally my job to continue to get ahead of those.
3. He’s Been a Vice President at Facebook for Over Five Years
Rosen’s official title is Vice President of Product Management. He’s been in that position since October 2013, when he joined the company. Rosen was previously the co-founder and CEO of Onavo, a web analytics company which was bought by Facebook in 2013. He has said that he decided to help found Onavo after a “wise man told him to save people money.” Onavo was also the parent company of Onavo Insights, a market intelligence service.
4. He Blogs About Cloud Computing at ‘Jack of All Clouds’
Rosen says he’s been building mobile apps since 1988, when he first acquired a Psion Organizer II. He co-founded Onavo and Onavo Insights, which were bought by Facebook in 2013. Rosen also blogs about cloud computing at the well-respected blog Jack of all Clouds.
5. He Studied Physics but Dropped Out of College After a Year
Rosen spent a year at the Hebew University of Jerusalem, studying physics. He dropped out after a year, although his LinkedIn profile notes, “I still love physics and hope to complete it some day after I retire.” Rosen found his first job as a software engineer in 1998, six years before he entered university, working as a manager for TACT.