In the parallel lawsuit vs Facebook due to its Cambridge Analytica cover-up, we just learned more in filings posted today as FB tries to shut down discovery and deposition ordered of Zuckerberg. FB included 4,200+ employees on messages they are claiming are privileged. lol. /1
If you're wondering about the highlighted name, it's the "equal partner" in the company that harvested the millions of records and sold them to Cambridge Analytica who was sketchily hired by Facebook in Nov 2015 as the Guardian reporter was closing in on the scandal. /2
Facebook's "privilege log" of everything they want to withhold from discovery was incredibly vague, generalizes groups and roles and clearly includes a lot of names and companies who according to decisions in other courts aren't privileged. Fairly absurd attempt to bury stuff. /3
Interesting, outside "consultants" which NdCal Court has already ruled aren't privileged since they weren't providing legal advice for this lawsuit but instead Zuckerberg announced to world were helping make sure the product was safe. What two firms helped with this effort? /4
Facebook filed just Friday in NdCal to seal names of FTI Consulting and Stroz Friedberg which had surfaced during a hearing but now we see them in public documents in DC Superior Court one day later. Outcast Agency is a "PR" firm Facebook has long used with ties to a16z, too. /5
There is also a doc the AG of DC office wants titled "Comms Source of Truth" which according to the motion had hundreds of people on it then later had outside counsel on it that Facebook now claimed to be privileged. The title and description of the doc are very interesting. /6
One name jumps out and that's a former journalist who in her now unsealed deposition said she was actually doing Strategic Communications directly for Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg avoided testimony with Congress around this entire matter and likely was a key conduit of clean-up. /7
Basically Facebook is WAAAAY over-reaching in trying to suggest communications are privileged with people who aren't even attorneys or in the case of these two people they're lawyers who represent industry groups and I have no idea how they could also be working for FB, too. /8
And for your trivia, among the 4,200+ employees claimed on privileged communications, there is even one Senate Majority Leader's daughter. Keep you posted but between NdCal and DC Superior, things are moving much more quickly of late. I'll add the Sat. thread below this. /9
Anyway, here is the parallel case in NdCal which also moved over the weekend. /eof
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
omg. I can't believe what I am seeing in the FTC v Meta exhibits that just posted. This is the start of a long Oct 2018 thread where redacted executive tells another c-level executive, Adam Mosseri, "some estimates fake engagement [on Instagram] could be in range of 40%." /1
and Mosseri does nothing to dispute the data point either. he actually agrees they are a threat saying, "they present a bigger thread [sic] to the business than to the user experience." The timing of this remarkable if you know the context of what was going on there. /2
Earlier in that year, Facebook was using same Mosseri to pitch and spin (this entire pitch document is amazing behind the scenes) the infamous Wired cover story, WSJ, CNN press on work to improve meaningful social interactions, and much much more. /3 ftcvmeta.app.box.com/s/b8m39toze8uc…
woah, I've now read Google and DOJ's proposed remedies for Google's 3rd antitrust defeat (adtech). I threaded Friday's hearing but this full doc is nothing short of beautiful. Best stuff may be missed so hear me out. This is a huge deal - 10yrs, "lifeblood of the Internet." /1
A reminder on the four objectives of antitrust remedies. In court on Friday and in Google's proposal, Google just seems to ignore the third and fourth as if they don't matter. That's a major problem for them. Judge Brinkema will be all over it. She gets this case wonderfully. /2
For instance, on Friday she labeled Google's ad demand, AdWords, the "golden goose." Now here is how DOJ describes it: "unique advertising demand." Notably, they don't flag that the demand also connects back to Google's other illegal monopoly loss for "search text ads." /3
A few more nuggets of delight for you. First, Tim Apple has had his halo bent. He's arguably had the best reputation of the big tech CEOs until today. He ordered the code red. /1
Alex Roman had a super bad day. If anyone directed him on this testimony cited by the Court, heads will roll. either way, Apple Inc also has big problems. /2