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
Woah. Exhibit list just posted for Facebook trial in DE starting in a few weeks. We finally have confirmation Sheryl Sandberg was deposed by the SEC - one week prior to Zuckerberg which also kept secret until a lawsuit unsealed it. Sandberg was also sanctioned in this case. /1
This matters as it gets at Who Knew What When at FB ahead of the world finding out its platform was leaking personal data for years. Zuckerberg was dodgy at best under oath to Congress, FB responses to Parliaments focused on 2018 news. But exhibits include Jan 2017 MZ emails. /2
The DE lawsuit claims Facebook's $5 billion record settlement was inflated in order to protect its CEO, Zuckerberg, and also includes (civil) insider trading claims. Zuckerberg was ordered to sit for multiple day depo this year, will have to testify live. /3
Scanning front pages across America this morning. Still today, the local A1 best captures the biggest story of the day. The majors from NY to LA to Detroit to even Arkansas. /1
From Washington DC all of the way up to the major newspapers in Alaska… the No Kings protest images are everywhere capturing the moment. /2
All of them capture peaceful protest, democracy in action, and what America is all about at a time when social media algorithms may distort what the day was all about. Illinois to Colorado. /3
Incredible work being done by the press to keep facts building on facts. Grateful. This entire WSJ report overnight starting with this lede on how White House orders sparked LA crackdown is both chilling and informative. /1
This statement. “We came to the United States for protection of what we encountered in Russia. It seems that we are encountering here what we fled.” /2
WSJ separating out cases of targeting groups who have not committed crimes but even noting here incredible resources being used against what appears to be clear, First Amendment protected activity alerted the community. Here is the must-read report. /3 wsj.com/us-news/protes…
Confession. Having watched Scott Pelley's outstanding work over nearly three decades, I almost didn't take the time to watch his W.F. commencement speech thinking the news reports told me enough of the facts. Frankly, that would have been a huge mistake on my part. Huge. 1/5
Disclosure: I'm a 60 Minutes fan. In fact, I read Don Hewitt's "Tell Me a Story" after nearly a decade in sports media and it likely tipped the scale in 2007 when I decided to jump to work at CBS. I find Pelley and team brilliant in telling stories in barely 15 min segments. 2/5
“If liberty means anything at all, it means telling someone something that they don’t want to hear. I fear there may be some people in the audience who don’t want to hear what I have to say today but I appreciate your forbearance in this small act of liberty.” - Scott Pelley 3/5
wow, another order for Mark Zuckerberg to sit for another court deposition. This time in a case involving privacy violations with ingesting web-wide health data. Remember they paid billions in cases to try to avoid this. Data and privacy issues are especially sensitive. /1
Zuckerberg depositions are interesting as they often go on for hours with highly informed attorneys driving for answers. And those answers may be put up against the often questioned veracity of his answers to Congress. Yes, as a CEO, he has testified to Congress A LOT. /2
I think his first real depo was SEC on very sensitive data scandal leading to $5B+ settlements with FTC+SEC. That scandal is still playing out in courts (did he overpay to protect himself?) It took 3yrs to get unsealed after I caught it in a footnote. /3
The Verge comes in with a massive scoop on the backstory reporting it was Musk - and Sacks - behind the scenes trying to blow up IP to train AI on behalf of his allies. This wouldn't be a surprise to anyone. /1
they have reports and details on the carnage and firing of the leadership and on the possible incorrect assumption that the new people in charge were running their playbook. /2
It may be rare that @mrddmia is in agreement with Dems but in the world of accountability for big tech abuse whether over data, monetization, IP, censorship, privacy, you name it, these aren't partisan issues. appreciate the shared voice from advocates all around. /3