Incoming. Fun thread. You may remember my live tweeting a Feb 10th hearing where Facebook and its lawyers received arguably its greatest court beatdown ever for discovery on its Cambridge Analytica cover-up. Transcript just posted in parallel DC suit as evidence. It holds up. /1
Recall Facebook's lawyers (Gibson Dunn) were ordered to bring a "decision maker" from Facebook -> Solanki. "I'll chat with you in a minute." Court then invited plaintiffs to file for sanctions of FB and the partners at Gibson Dunn. Read every word (yellow is mine). It's good. /2
First, the Court goes through a couple examples (app developer investigation and turning over plaintiffs' data) that he describes as "egregious." You can read the invitation for sanctions and see if I was exaggerating the beatdown or not. Again, it's a gem - entertaining. /3
Court slams Gibson Dunn for delaying their own depositions of the plaintiffs which he suggests may also be sanctionable. Then practically begs the plaintiffs to take as much time and length as possible in their documenting for the request for sanctions. /4
I can't even summarize this part when he addresses Facebook's VP of Legal directly. Just read it. Every word. It's pure art. /5
Court makes clear on expected case of discovery going forward and orders the contents of Facebook's app audit to be turned over in 21 days. Very clearly. This is the one they've been fighting to keep privileged in DC. /6
And then this is the part where the Court suggests the plaintiffs take any depositions needed (likely including Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg) asap because they can do them a second time based on discovery. Due to Facebook's horsing around. WOW. /7
And then when Gibson Dunn (Mr Snyder) has the nerve to ask for the same treatment for Facebook, the Court responds "Not necessarily, based on the view I have developed about how Facebook has conducted itself thus far in discovery." /8
That's it. Are you not entertained? A lot more importantly, there are a lot of very, very sensitive documents now being turned over from the cover-up. Press have missed because many have been misled by FB on the merits of the Cambridge Analytica matter. /9
oh, and finally here is the thread I did live, if anyone wants to double check my own interpretation at the time. I tried to treat it fair and accurately based on what the Court was saying. Happy Friday. /eof
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
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…