Jason Kint Profile picture
Jan 28, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Oh dear, Facebook filed its motion to dismiss for the Delaware shareholder suit I called the "mother of all lawsuits" because it includes charges of insider trading and governance failures related to Cambridge Analytica cover-up. I still think it may bring Facebook down. /1
I find this amusing. In a number of places in its response to the court, Facebook argues there was a failure to allege "red flags." How would the board even know that there were "red flags????" /2
I mean subpoenas from state AGs all over the country, the Federal Trade Commission and international governments wouldn't necessarily indicate anything, right? /3
I mean just the mere fact the FTC was investigating Facebook doesn't mean the board knew Facebook violated its consent order with the FTC, right? /3
speaking of "red flags," by golly that's exactly the term the SEC used when it did its stealth settlement with Facebook the same day they paid off the FTC $5 billion so Zuckerberg wouldn't be exposed to discovery and deposition around the cover-up, the very basis of this suit. /4
about that $5 billion, it's mere pocket change - a "fraction" - compared to what Facebook states the FTC originally wanted despite being many billions more than other prior FTC settlement. So don't worry about the cover-up, respect the deal it received. /5
and certainly don't worry about the insider trading allegations for 80mil shares of stock during the cover-up because that may seem like billions to us mortals, it's a rounding error to a CEO that controls all the stock, board and desperately wanted to avoid deposition. /6
and in the category of normal, misleading statements by Facebook, for the thousandth time, there was no legal certification with Cambridge Analytica. It was a flimsy one-page letter with no legal value 15 months later in 2017 after more press reports surfaced scaring them. /7
and this seems like bad lawyering by Gibson Dunn (who must be making a killing off all of these cases). They make a point the whitelisted apps that had data for another 3+ years had already ceased at the time of NYT's report but earlier noted a few hadn't. Slippery at best. /7
On the probably irrelevant arguments, apparently Mark Zuckerberg has no "emotional depth" in his relationship to his board member and at least one-time friend, Houston. That must hurt some feelings. /8
and I don't think this reads as well as Facebook's law firm intended for it to read. /9
ok, I'll stop there. Here is the thread of the original lawsuit which is much more important to understand than Facebook's motion to dismiss. I'll keep you posted, this is a big one. /10

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More from @jason_kint

Apr 15
with FTC's opening statement slides (109 of them over 86 minutes IYKYK)) now posting, I want to flag just a few of them worth amplifying. /1 Image
These two statements from Judge Boasberg his denial of Meta's motion to dismiss last November will weigh heavily on Facebook imho. The evidence from both the Instagram deal and WhatsApp deal are damning considering just these two bullets. /2 Image
This slide (and the next one) were interesting in getting internal reflections of Meta/Facebook forcing more ads into the Instagram experience. /3 Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 14
FTC v Meta Day 1. Opening arguments for FTC laid out its case. As predicted, Meta tried to blow hole into market definition. This actually comes later in trial so not dwelling but will add some context at end. But first witness 1 was CEO Zuckerberg. Dead to rights on conduct. /1
Internal Facebook employee messages (some we've previously seen plus plenty more) make the Instagram deal clearly anticompetitive conduct imho. Exhibits may not post until Wed so my quotes are my best snapshots from messages in exhibits on screens. Relay with care. I tried. /2
Zuckerberg has testified for only 3 hrs of FTC's estimated 7hrs so he's back on stand tomorrow at 9:30am ET (remember, Careless People book said he hates mornings). FTC has been systematically laying out timeline of Facebook shift to mobile and acquisition of Instagram. /3
Read 22 tweets
Apr 9
As Meta’s Andy Stone works overnight criticizing whistleblower testimony today on their role in China, let’s not forget Meta worked furiously thru billions in settlements to keep sealed it provided data access to 86,961 developers in China unsealed after court sanctions in 2023. Image
That slide is from their own internal audit. The one they promised the public and Congress in testimony then buried it including fighting to keep the forensic clean up artists aka auditors under seal, too, until an attorney said it in open courtroom. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Here is Stone’s statement this morning. He has a track record burying for his bosses so just think it’s important context when he tries to brush aside China. Thank you @HawleyMO for accountability here. nbcnews.com/tech/social-me…Image
Read 6 tweets
Apr 3
Pretrial orders starting to give taste as to why WSJ reports Mark Zuckerberg is meeting Pres. Trump desperately trying to settle its FTC lawsuit 11 days from trial. Court just ordered Meta to release all internal discussions of "integrity" issues up until 2020. That's toxic. /1 Image
Also included is evidence as to what appears to be Apple warning Facebook/Meta to address CSAM on WhatsApp chat groups. Remember, advertisers built this company investing hundreds of billions of dollars to support it. /2 Image
On that note, we will also likely see the financials for WhatsApp which was acquired by Facebook for nearly $19B despite almost no revenues. The why this happened will be a key argument in the court room. /3 Image
Read 4 tweets
Mar 18
The American values of IP protection have been a cornerstone in the country’s innovative spirit and competitive edge over foreign adversaries. DCN focused on strong copyright protections in our comments filed for the AI Action Plan. Will share some thoughts here. /1
Weakening copyright protections, whether at home or abroad, threatens US economic growth and the global competitiveness. Importantly, this point is inclusive of content creators across all platforms. The invented "right to learn" by machines is BS spin from OpenAI and Google. /2
Simply put, AI firms must not use copyrighted content without consent or compensation, as this undermines fair competition and creator rights. And they should be required to disclose when they've used it without consent. /3
Read 10 tweets
Feb 21
It's time to call it. AI is built on a house of cards of intellectual property violations starting with Facebook which is starting to look a lot like a crime scene as held back discovery documents begin to be compelled and unsealed in court. /1 Image
"what is the probability of getting arrested for using Torrents in the USA?" /2 Image
"Is this LibGen?"
"We suspect some of our competitors are using it" /3 Image
Image
Read 16 tweets

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