I was excited to explore the possibility of a job at Facebook last week. An opportunity to work with some of the smartest (and nicest!) engineers in the world on a problem space I've been intellectually invested in for several years. This latest revelation crosses a line for me.
> But this Soros thing is different. This is no passive failure. It’s a malevolent action taken against groups who criticize Facebook for things that Facebook admits it has failed at. It takes advantage of and contributes to the most poisonous aspects of our public discourse.
- https://twitter.com/juliacarriew/status/1062932740729856000
Facebook's response is utterly confused. When the unseemly smears their PR/lobbying firm propagated come to light they quickly sack them but also attempt to defend the smear. Which is it?
> Lastly we wanted to address the issue of Definers, who we ended our contract with last night. The New York Times is wrong to suggest that we ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf – or to spread misinformation. Our relationship with Definers was well known by the media – not least because they have on several occasions sent out invitations to hundreds of journalists about important press calls on our behalf. Definers did encourage members of the press to look into the funding of “Freedom from Facebook,” an anti-Facebook organization. The intention was to demonstrate that it was not simply a spontaneous grassroots campaign, as it claimed, but supported by a well-known critic of our company. To suggest that this was an anti-Semitic attack is reprehensible and untrue.
- https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/11/new-york-times-update/
It clearly plays into the modern anti-Semitic conspiracy theories being pushed in right wing media and Republican campaign ads.
Someone senior at Facebook needs to take responsibility for this.
Good to see Facebook's message is evolving in Sheryl Sandberg's post. No longer attempting to defend the indefensible. (Edit, on a second closer reading it does still attempt to defend it, just in more finessed language. It does not acknowledge that it was smearing critics with an antisemitic trope.)
> I also want to address the issue that has been raised about a PR firm, Definers. We’re no longer working with them but at the time, they were trying to show that some of the activity against us that appeared to be grassroots also had major organizations behind them. I did not know we hired them or about the work they were doing, but I should have. I have great respect for George Soros – and the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories against him are abhorrent. - https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10160967443525177
> But this Soros thing is different. This is no passive failure. It’s a malevolent action taken against groups who criticize Facebook for things that Facebook admits it has failed at. It takes advantage of and contributes to the most poisonous aspects of our public discourse. - https://twitter.com/juliacarriew/status/1062932740729856000
Facebook's response is utterly confused. When the unseemly smears their PR/lobbying firm propagated come to light they quickly sack them but also attempt to defend the smear. Which is it?
> Lastly we wanted to address the issue of Definers, who we ended our contract with last night. The New York Times is wrong to suggest that we ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf – or to spread misinformation. Our relationship with Definers was well known by the media – not least because they have on several occasions sent out invitations to hundreds of journalists about important press calls on our behalf. Definers did encourage members of the press to look into the funding of “Freedom from Facebook,” an anti-Facebook organization. The intention was to demonstrate that it was not simply a spontaneous grassroots campaign, as it claimed, but supported by a well-known critic of our company. To suggest that this was an anti-Semitic attack is reprehensible and untrue. - https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/11/new-york-times-update/
It clearly plays into the modern anti-Semitic conspiracy theories being pushed in right wing media and Republican campaign ads.
Someone senior at Facebook needs to take responsibility for this.