@facebook For quick ‘where are we now?’ — these docs are central to US lawsuit brought by Six4Three, a startup that sued FB over access to FB user data. They’re still sealed in the US, though UK parliament seized them last week
@facebook And it’s all a bit dodgy, with @DamianCollins, Six4Three and certain media outlets (not naming them, but you can guess) all having a vested interest in these docs being made public
@facebook @DamianCollins Though, if the docs link Zuckerberg & senior execs to behavior that limited competition on platform or show they strong armed companies to buy advertising in return to access to user data, that’s a big deal (FB denies allegations, obvs)
@facebook @DamianCollins <<wonders out loud>> Will certain media outlets have been prebriefed and come out with full stories within seconds of docs being made public?
@facebook @DamianCollins F*ck me: 250 pages….
@facebook @DamianCollins First take: @DamianCollins is pretty much parroting Six4Three’s legal arguments against FB. OK, radio silence. Need to read these things.
@facebook @DamianCollins OK. Lots to dissect, but as I’m waiting for first take to be published, here we go: The docs allegedly show that Zuckerberg gave his approval to booting access to FB data to rivals. “Yup, go for it" 
@facebook @DamianCollins Senior execs, including Zuck, also openly talked about giving companies a choice: buy ads on Facebook’s nascent ad network (this was back in 2013) or face being cut off from FB data. Zuck email from 2012:
@facebook @DamianCollins There was also discussion of ‘data reciprocity’ — if companies building services on top of FB platform wanted to keep accessing FB data, then they had to share their data with FB. Zuck, again, from late 2012:
@facebook @DamianCollins But, to be 100% clear, these emails *could* be taken out of context. They’re from 2012/3, and FB is a very different beast now than it was then. But it doesn’t look good for FB.
@facebook @DamianCollins Cos even these emails don’t say what they look like they say, Zuck is sending emails out in 2013 that say cut off rivals’ access to data (when FB was starting to look at video). That’s going to get @vestager/@FTC interested, to say the least
@facebook @DamianCollins @vestager @FTC But, again, I need to read through all the 250 pages of internal FB docs (the U.S. lawsuit that’s still under seal has a lot more of that, so pinch of salt), so I’m conscious that all the media is somewhat getting played here
@facebook @DamianCollins @vestager @FTC Why do I say that? ‘Cos it’s in the interests of @DamianCollins, Six4Three and others that want to portray FB is the worst light. Is that fair? Possibly. But it’s hard to make a judgement when these docs are incomplete & redacted
@facebook @DamianCollins @vestager @FTC But, my initial take is this: these internal docs will lead to antitrust investigations, claims that Zuck is running a data-led conspiracy, & people’s data was used to promote FB over rivals
That feeling when you filed your first take 30 min ago, and you're waiting for a readback.
FB's stock price down 2.24 percent (as of 10:26 ET), so that's $6.6bn off the market cap
Also, for transparency, here’s a list of the media outlets that had filed amicus briefs in the US lawsuit brought by Six4Three to make the docs public (disclosure: Six4Three approached POLITICO, but we declined)
Making my way through the docs, this from FB's Director of Platform Partnerships doesn't look good: pay for ads, or lose access to FB data -- "Communicate in one go to all apps that don't spend that hose permission will be revoked"
CORRECTION: US markets closed today (out of respect for George Bush's passing) so today's disclosures NOT reflected in FB's share price decline
Well, this is awkward -- Zuck on potential risks of data leaks (a few months before Aleksandr Kogan created app to collect data for Cambridge Analytica): "I just can't think of any instances where that data has leaked from developer to developer and caused a real issue for us"
And after a (very very long) wait, imho, here's a first look for all you POLITICO Pro readers -- politico.eu/pro/mark-zucke…
Thanks for following along. ICYMI -- here's a recap of what I've been writing over the last 2 hours threadreaderapp.com/thread/1070321… HT: @threadreaderapp
And for all to read: "Zuckerberg allegedly blocked rivals from accessing @Facebook data" politico.eu/article/mark-z… HT: @Techmeme
By no means a knock on other media outlets that filed amicus briefs in Six4Three lawsuit, but feel like that's something people should at least disclose in their coverage, as a matter of transparency <<ducks to avoid abuse>>
And Zuck responds: facebook.com/zuck/posts/101…
Any good reactions from folk out there? Would be interested if any politicians (who, to be fair, still rely on FB a lot to reach voters) taking a view on these docs?
Talking of which, here's what @DamianCollins (UK lawmaker who made these docs public) had to say: "We don't feel we have had straight answers from Facebook on these important issues, which is why we are releasing the documents"
In response, FB says they've answered 600+ questions from @DamianCollins and his UK counterparts, as well as giving evidence to 13 parliaments worldwide.
Here's why that's an argument that isn't going to cut it (from me): politico.eu/article/facebo…
Here's why that's an argument that isn't going to cut it (from me): politico.eu/article/facebo…
Someone in FB’s comms team is working on pure caffeine right now: after Zuck responds personally, FB offers official responses to all separate allegations newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/12/r…
ICYMI — @EU_Commission just demanded social media companies like @Facebook, @twitter, etc give monthly updates on who’s buying political ads & who’s behind misinformation, starting next month. This, imho, is a serious escalation in govt pressure on FB, et al HT: @laurenscerulus
For those looking for more background on all of this, here’s my Twitter rant from last week on international FB-bashing hearing held at UK parliament
