3 things on latest WSJ edition of Facebook Files. (1) Joel Kaplan shouldn’t be anywhere near or have any damn influence on Facebook product design decisions. He is frankly the antithesis of the integrity you want in decisions impacting informing the public and civil society. /1
As an example, and @WillOremus has covered, Twitter specifically does NOT include its policy and public relations people in these decisions. They are reportedly only told the decisions *after* they’ve been made to avoid this exact issue at Facebook. /2
(2) this statement from Breitbart PR, or whatever they have, has to be the most delusional statement they’ve ever made. I just can’t even believe they made it but it’s on brand. /3
(3) this Tucker statement is actually a point of levity in the troubling report, “‘Any dog comparison is a compliment as far as I’m concerned,’ Mr. Carlson said in an interview.” /4
this is a nauseating and embarrassing enthusiastic sales snow job by someone with absolutely zero remaining credibility or trust as a CEO of a major tech company let alone one the one with the greatest impact on global information, civil society and democracy. /1
I'm trying to keep track of his adversaries he's trying to paint and neuter with these prepared remarks:
So far I've logged:
- apple's privacy improvements
- the whistleblower's leaking
- free and plural press "coordinating"
- antitrust enforcers
GTFO with the metaverse. /2
Snap CEO supported Apple's privacy changes. Sheryl Sandberg is about to lay out all of the problems it's causing for the company while not supporting them and instead trying to still hug small business. Every word should be parsed. /3
Took a tour of the web while watching Facebook whistleblower testify (thank you, picture-in-picture). I’m going to post homepages here for the record.
Here are The Atlantic and Washington Post…
Link to UK Parliament hearing - Facebook whistleblower starts momentarily. Chair of committee is @DamianCollins who led multi-party, impressive hearings in 2018/2019 and made himself into one of the smartest lawmakers on the planet regarding the issues. /1 parliamentlive.tv/event/index/cd…
For those who didn’t spend many hours tracking as Parliament DCMS investigated, tried to summons Zuckerberg to answer to cover-up and called them a ‘digital gangsta’, prepare for a session where they’re able to go deeper into dialogue and details rather than talking points. /2
As an example @DamianCollins is already diving into the mechanics of Facebook Groups and how they can amplify problematic engagement and recommend and organize groups and networks of groups around harmful themes. /3
what a week for Facebook, Attorney General Racine's complaint just posted to the docket with Mark Zuckerberg now added as a defendant. This was widely reported last week but interesting to see (and not see). /1
By "not see," I mean there is a ton of redactions specific to Zuckerberg presumably tied to the limited discovery they've been able to do so far. As part of this, DC will increase its press to depose and do discovery on Zuckerberg, something FTC failed to do. /2
It seems something was more recently discovered that increased their interest in going for the king. /3
So I just took a tour of local newspaper America. As the independent, free and plural press jumps in and builds on the groundbreaking work of Wall Street Journal’s “Facebook Files” series, it’s not just the front page of The New York Times and Washington Post. /1
But that New York Times report also makes its way to newspaper front pages ranging from the Buffalo News to both newspapers of the Twin Cities (Pioneer Press and StarTribune) - ahem both read by the Chair of Senate antitrust. /2
And thanks to USA Today and Gannett, it also makes its way to even more front pages of newspapers across America including the Sunday Free Press in Detroit, Michigan. /3
Just as I say this, I go grab my newspaper from our driveway and bam. 1) this is power of A1 and deadly to Facebook 2) WSJ team and whistleblower need serious props here as the plural, free press is messy as it spans out but this impact is due to their groundbreaking reports.
It’s worth noting the report on the left is one which people have been all over my feed saying Abramson / Proof haven’t received enough credit. News outlets build on each other, brands, confirmation and new sources all add to the layer of facts. It’s good, plural press action.
And in case it wasn’t clear, my original tweet above wasn’t suggesting facebook PR made stories break early. I said they “hoped” that they did due to weekend press cycle. Major outlets keeping them front and center as WaPo has done is critically important.