This entire Washington Post report today is a must-read and once again deeply disturbing receipts on Facebook’s willingness to allow toxic sludge in order to maintain global scalability. It sure seems like they lied during the most significant external audit in their history. /1
Facebook even went to white people in the heart of deeply conservative America in order to establish content was objectionable. But even that apparently wasn’t enough to get Bickert+Kaplan to support that hate speech against the most vulnerable groups needed to be prioritized. /2
The “worst of the worst” may better describe the governance, executive leadership and policy team that protects Facebook’s toxic and harmful business model putting profits over democracy and civil societies. Andy Stone once again features in this report protecting Kaplan. /3
Here is Stone once again spreading misleading metrics which others regularly warn about onboarding and giving Facebook a platform to share them. % of content on the platform is irrelevant context for a report like this. /4
Even this sentence is deeply misleading. The word “proactive” is key as it means 80%+ ***of the removed hate speech*** is due to removal by software (as opposed to ~20% by humans). We learned from WSJ that maybe as low as 5% of hate speech is actually removed. /5
This stat is absolutely horrific and new to me. We learned in prior reporting that % removed by automation was driven up by Facebook creating friction in the human review process but I didn’t know it also was driven up by removing comments directed at white people. /6
Just before the clock struck midnight, the Dept of Justice and Google filed their updated Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in the adtech antitrust trial ahead of closing arguments (Nov 25th/EDVA). /1
Google clocked in at 787 pages, DOJ at 422. Much more reading but I found the most enjoyable sections to be DOJ's reminders of Google's evidence abuses along with killing the duty to deal arguments Google has been pumping through its tentacles of paid proxies. /2
"Google chose to train its employees about how to abuse the attorney-client privilege and destroy documents." This was a big freaking deal before the trial started, in all of Google's other antitrust trials and it will be here, too. Don't forget it. /3
Google break-up talks. Big hearing tomorrow fighting over discovery. One question unanswered is... YouTube. Where does it sit? Almost no mention in any of the trials (app store, adtech, search) although arguably one of the most significant "fruits" of G's monopoly abuses. /1
I use the word, "fruit," intentionally as case law says one of the four critical objectives in remedies is denying them and it's fairly unequivocal YouTube is YouTube due to the query+click scale of Google's 90%+ market share in search. YouTube is now #2 discovery surface. /2
Why hasn't YouTube come up more? I would argue it clearly wasn't needed to prove the liability in the trials. And Google's legal defenses have focused on trying to muddy the relevant market. Google worked hard but failed to bring in video (think TV, Netflix, TikTok) in market. /3
There it is. Confirmation directly from the Department of Justice that divestiture of Chrome, Android and/or Play are all on the table as remedies to Google's antitrust abuses. US DOJ's remedies framework just posted. Their final proposal is due Nov 20th. /1
It's a fairly broad, ten pages that starts by reiterating the findings of the DC Court and the duty to seek an order not only addressing the existing harms from Google's illegal conduct but - this is critically important - prevent recurrence going forward. /2
here are the listed findings in a tl;dr format. Note the point of illegal conduct for over ten years and the importance of scale and data. /3
Ka-Boom. Federal court just issued remedy for Google's app store monopoly (found liable by jury earlier this year). Note: this is on the eve of US DOJ posting its remedy framework for Google's monopolies in Search and Search text ads. And yes, adtech opinion to come... /1
Looks like 3 years (I think Epic asked for 6) on a long list of restricts to attempt to cure Google's monopoly abuse in its app store (Google Play). We'll need to do a full review but this section may be most notable for @DCNorg members. And yes, Google will likely appeal. /2
Woah. Lawsuit against Facebook for overpaying $5b+ to FTC and SEC to limit Zuckerberg’s exposure from its cover-up around Cambridge Analytica just took an interesting twist with allegations Sheryl Sandberg was using and purging a separate Gmail account for sensitive matters. /1
This is in a sanctions motion just unsealed against her and another board member (now Biden Chief of Staff). The Delaware lawsuit is brought by pension funds now deposing a number of the board members after a records inspection allowed for a derivative lawsuit. /2
It appears that the evidence of the spoliation comes from emails showing up on the other end of the communications during discovery. This is how Google’s own spoliation issues surfaced (worth noting Facebook’s Sandberg and Schrage both worked at Google so…) /3
Oh come on, Alex Heath. It's one thing to let Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spread misleading history as part of your getting access and an exclusive interview but it's another thing to do it for him. You stated this for him rather than fact-checking on what actually happened? /1
I don't even know what you're talking about here. Google wrote a check for a few million to DOJ to eliminate the claim allowing for a jury. The case wasn't settled, it's literally wrapping up this week. It was Facebook who has paid more than $5B in settlements to the govt. /2
On those $5B+ in settlements, they were due to what you're helping him rewrite history. Literally THIS WEEK, 3 cases moved in DE Chancery, DC Appeals and the freaking US Supreme Court. Facebook WROTE THIS to SCOTUS who granted cert in 9th circuit case day after Nov elections. /3