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October 24, 2021, 7:30 PM
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| Ben Hubbard / New York Times: |
Citizen Lab: the iPhone of Ben Hubbard, an American reporter for NYT, was hacked in 2020 and 2021, likely by Saudi Arabia using NSO's Pegasus; NSO denies claim — Invasive hacking software sold to countries to fight terrorism is easily abused. Researchers say my phone was hacked twice, probably by Saudi Arabia.More:
Tweets:
@nytben: After yet another hacking scare, I decided to work with @citizenlab to see what they could find. Had I been hacked? With what? By whom? What, if any, of my info was stolen? Here are the results, with a number of questions left unanswered. https://www.nytimes.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: NEW: iPhone of @NYTBen was hacked with #Pegasus spyware *after* he complained to NSO Group about previous targeting. THREAD Our @citizenlab investigation: https://citizenlab.ca/... https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: 5/ Of course, NSO Group has again issued a denial. Truth is: as long as NSO helps autocrats hack...they will keep infecting journalists. #Pegasus spyware enables these enemies of democracy to export their wretched repression around the globe. https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: 4/ You'd think NSO Group would have taken some kind of action given the negative publicity but... @billmarczak's latest forensic analysis finds that in the past 2 years, @NYTBen was *repeatedly* hacked with #Pegasus spyware using zero-click exploits. https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: 3/ A member of the @nytimes tech security team later found another #Pegasus infection attempt from 2018. Here it is, inviting him to cover a protest at the #Saudi embassy in Washington DC. Clicking on the link would infect his device with the spyware. https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: 6/ Remember the #pegasusproject? Yeah, @NYTBen 's number is on that list of potential targets, too. Along with @nytimes colleague @azamsahmed who extensively reported on Pegasus in Mexico. July report by @ronenbergman & @PatrickKingsley: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: 2/ It began in 2018: @NYTBen shared a suspicious message with my colleague @billmarczak. It was a #Pegasus infection attempt. We @citizenlab attributed it to #SaudiArabia. Ben wrote it up & complained to NSO Group. NSO issued a predictable denial. https://twitter.com/...
@nytben: And here is @citizenlab's more technical write up of what they found. https://citizenlab.ca/...
Aki Peritz / @akiperitz: Did those amoral businessmen of NSO Group specifically say that US emails & IP “couldn't be infected by their spyware https://twitter.com/...
@ghadaoueiss: I am a victim of spyware. My photos were stolen&used to smear me across social media and the press. No one should have to go through this. No journalist, activist, academic or citizen should feel unsafe just for owning a phone. We need to fight for the right to privacy! https://twitter.com/...
@ragipsoylu: Not surprised the least that @NYTBen was also hacked by Saudi government through Pegasus. I was also in their list since 2018 and only traces belonging to this year, numerous times between February to July https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kenneth Roth / @kenroth: Israeli spyware NSO Group “canceled its contracts with Saudi Arabia” after Saudis killed Khashoggi. NSO resumed the following year with “contractual restrictions.” It cancelled again when the Saudis used its spyware to hack phones of 36 Al Jazeera staff. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kristian Ulrichsen / @dr_ulrichsen: ‘I have been writing about Saudi Arabia for years & published a book last year about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, so Saudi Arabia might have reasons for wanting to peek inside my phone (...) Did they steal my contacts so they could arrest my sources?’ https://www.nytimes.com/...
Farnaz Fassihi / @farnazfassihi: Beirut bureau chief @NYTBen writes about how he was hacked, twice probably by Saudi Arabia. How finding definite answers even by experts was elusive. How we are all vulnerable in this global game of hacking. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Kevin Beaumont / @gossithedog: this area probably needs regulating by governments. https://twitter.com/...
@citizenlab: Read @NYTBen's account of our investigation of how we discovered his phone was hacked with Pegasus @nytimes: I Was Hacked. The Spyware Used Against Me Makes Us All Vulnerable. https://www.nytimes.com/...
| New York Times: |
Internal docs detail Facebook's struggles with violence-inciting content in India, including failure to designate some politically-connected groups as dangerous — Internal documents show a struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence in the country, the company's biggest market.
Tweets: @seancasten, @daveyalba, @jeffhorwitz, @drshamamohd, @szhang_ds, @askanshul, @ihshaheen, @rmac18, @nytimes, @mutalenkonde, @carolecadwalla, @nihamasih, @guardiantech, @slpng_giants, @ianclucas, @grantstern, @dearauntcrabby, @hughhewitt, @arifcrafiq, @duty2warn, @barbaraortutay, @suryaracharya, @emilygorcenski, @deccanherald, @wtop, @nilanjanaroy, @kenroth, @sonaliranade, @chinmayiarun, @npr, @vinodkapri, @nihamasih, @daveyalba, @arzugeybulla, @nicdawes, @sonaliranade, @revkin, @cat_zakrzewski, @mrwharton, @pranavdixit, @brhodes, @emma_leik, @mollyjongfast, @mattocko, @yoda, @zoo_bear, @drwinarick, @ap, @dabeard, @marvicleonen, @ericbellmanwsj, @torontoraza, @sabaeitizaz, @moniquegoyens, @blackamazon, @niemanlab, @davewiner, @amaramarasingam, @justinhendrix, @frankluntz, @drdenagrayson, and @joenbc
More:
Wall Street Journal: Facebook Services Are Used to Spread Religious Hatred in India, Internal Documents Show
Washington Post: How Facebook neglected the rest of the world, fueling hate speech and violence in India
Livemint: Internal Facebook documents show struggle with misinformation, hate speech and celebrations of violence in India: Report
Tweets:
Sean Casten / @seancasten: More damning information about Facebook, this time in India. But it's important to understand that this is a VERY fixable problem. The algorithm cannot be simultaneously optimized for FB revenue AND not encouraging extremism. Brief thread: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Davey Alba / @daveyalba: And to be clear, it's not just India. Myanmar. Sri Lanka. Ethiopia. These are all places FB moved into without fully understanding its impact on local culture and politics. Then it struggled to deploy the resources to act on issues once they occurred. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz: “If social media survives 10 more years like this, there will be only hatred.” Facebook's researchers went to India to understand why hate speech was spiking on its platform. Here's @newley on what they found. https://www.wsj.com/...
Dr. Shama Mohamed / @drshamamohd: Facebook whistleblower Sophie Zhang alleges that a fake news account was not taken down because it was personally run by a BJP MP. She says it is now upto India to hold FB responsible. Will the SC pull up Facebook for interference in India's democracy by promoting fake news!
@szhang_ds: @drshamamohd This is inaccurate. I was not speaking about a “fake news account.” I was speaking about a network of fake Facebook accounts pretending to be Indians who did not exist. The accounts were focused on supporting the BJP MP who personally ran them, not on creating fake news.
Anshul Saxena / @askanshul: In Assam, a man named Arbas Khan uploaded his photo of putting a foot on a Ganesh idol on Facebook. 1. People of Assam protested & he got arrested. 2. No violence, killings & looting. 3. No attack on any religious site or against any community. This is the right way. https://twitter.com/...
@ihshaheen: In a report produced after the elections, Facebook found that over 40 percent of top views, or impressions, in the Indian state of West Bengal were “fake/inauthentic.” One inauthentic account had amassed more than 30M impressions. @cjwerleman @ashoswai https://www.nytimes.com/...
@rmac18: Six days after Nov. 3, a Facebook data scientist noticed as much as 1 out of every 50 US views (or 10% of all political views) on the platform were on posts alleging election fraud. Our story on how employees felt FB could have done more ahead of Jan. 6: https://www.nytimes.com/...
@nytimes: Dozens of reports written by Facebook employees provide stark evidence of one of the most serious criticisms levied against the company: It moves into a country without fully understanding its impact, and fails to act on issues once they occur. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Carole Cadwalladr / @carolecadwalla: The scale of Facebook's toxic impact on the world's biggest democracy is horrifying. The latest stories coming out of @FrancesHaugen's Facebook Files are some of the most important yet. Can Indian democracy even survive Facebook? https://www.nytimes.com/...
Niha Masih / @nihamasih: NEW: How Facebook's failure to invest in key safety protocols helped spread hate speech and violence against minorities in India, internal documents show. With @Cat_Zakrzewski @GerritD @ShibaniMahtani (1/n) https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@guardiantech: Facebook rolls out campaign to fight misinformation ahead of Australian election https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Ian Lucas / @ianclucas: All part of a course of conduct by Facebook first exposed in 2018. https://twitter.com/...
@grantstern: Facebook didn't neglect the reset of the world's, they just cared more about money and catering to hatemongers in high places. Hate is profitable for Facebook, and responsibility could slow growth. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@dearauntcrabby: How Facebook neglected the rest of the world, fueling hate speech and violence in India Facebook must be broken up, regulated, or closed. They are a danger to our society. Their unwillingness to regulate hate speech is a threat to America. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Hugh Hewitt / @hughhewitt: “For all of Facebook's troubles in North America, its problems with hate speech and disinformation are dramatically worse in the developing world.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Arif Rafiq / @arifcrafiq: Bottom line: Facebook knows its services are being used by Hindu extremists to incite hatred toward Muslims and wage violence against them, but it won't do a thing because Hindu extremists rule India and India is a huge market for the company. https://www.wsj.com/...
@duty2warn: If you lived in India your Facebook page would be “flooded with hateful messages” saying Kashmiris were “traitors who deserved to be shot.” Facebook is a menace to planetary security. Watch pictures of your friends' kids somewhere else. Shut it down. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@barbaraortutay: Facebook saw India as of the most “at risk countries” in the world. Yet it didn't have enough local language moderators or content-flagging in place to stop misinformation that at times led to real-world violence, . https://apnews.com/... by @Sheikh_Saaliq and @KrutikaPathi
Surya Raj Acharya / @suryaracharya: 'how a plan championed by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, to focus on “meaningful social interactions,” or exchanges between friends and family, was leading to more misinformation in India' https://www.nytimes.com/...
Emily GorCIAnski / @emilygorcenski: The Facebook leaks are adding little to the conversation that antifascist activists and internet scholars have been having for years. The peek inside is interesting, but the substantive facts are things we've been screaming about for years. https://twitter.com/...
@deccanherald: The report said the internal documents include reports on how bots and fake accounts tied to the “country's ruling party and opposition figures” were wreaking havoc on national elections. #Facebook #India https://www.deccanherald.com/ ...
@wtop: Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, even as its own employees cast doubt over the company's motivations and interests. https://wtop.com/...
Nilanjana Roy / @nilanjanaroy: Facebook has blood on their hands; so does Twitter, YouTube. People reported hate on these networks over five years ago, reported chilling hate campaigns against Muslims and others, women asked for greater safety over and over again. They did nothing. Hate has a high cost. https://twitter.com/...
Kenneth Roth / @kenroth: A researcher created an account to see what Facebook users experience in India. For three weeks, it follow all recommendations generated by Facebook's algorithms. “The result was an inundation of hate speech, misinformation and celebrations of violence.” https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@sonaliranade: “Facebook found that over 40 percent of top views, or impressions, in the Indian state of West Bengal were “fake/inauthentic.” One inauthentic account had amassed more than 30 million impressions.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Poopganda factories managers will be proud.
Chinmayi Arun / @chinmayiarun: How is this still new to people in 2021? Glad to see more reporting about it though https://twitter.com/...
@npr: Leaked documents reveal that Facebook struggled to quash misinformation and anti-Muslim propaganda on its platform and lacked the resources to do so, even as its own employees raised red flags. https://www.npr.org/...
Niha Masih / @nihamasih: 8/ “They were told, told, told and they didn't do one damn thing about it. The anger [from the global south] is so visceral on how disposable they view our lives.” From the Facebook Papers: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Davey Alba / @daveyalba: More on the horrors of FB India from @washingtonpost: “8,000 miles away from [Facebook's] headquarters, a Kashmiri student watched as his real FB page flooded with hateful messages. One said Kashmiris were ‘traitors who deserved to be shot.’” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Arzu Geybulla / @arzugeybulla: The report was one of dozens of studies and memos written by Facebook employees grappling with the effects of the platform on India. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Nicholas Dawes / @nicdawes: “Facebook hasn't designated the RSS for removal “given political sensitivities,” the document says. Prime Minister Narendra Modi worked for the RSS for decades.” https://www.wsj.com/...
@sonaliranade: “But in Hindi and Bengali, it still did not have enough data to adequately police the content, and much of the content targeting Muslims “is never flagged or actioned,” the Facebook report said.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@revkin: “Facebook has meticulously studied its approach abroad — and was well aware that weaker moderation in non-English-speaking countries leaves the platform vulnerable to abuse by bad actors and authoritarian regimes.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @Cat_Zakrzewski et al @washingtonpost https://twitter.com/...
Cat Zakrzewski / @cat_zakrzewski: NEW from the Facebook Papers: India is Facebook's largest market. But internal documents show that Facebook didn't invest in key safety systems there that it has had in the United States for years @GerritD @ShibaniMahtani @NihaMasih https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Phillip Wharton / @mrwharton: “Violent riots erupted within hours, killing 53 people. Most of them were Muslims. Only after thousands of views and shares did Facebook remove the video.” https://twitter.com/...
@pranavdixit: Not holding Facebook to account in India is one of the Indian press's most glaring failures (among many others). It's increasingly harder to take any tech journalism out of India seriously. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Rhodes / @brhodes: Facebook is an existential danger to democracy and a global public safety hazard. Like previous products that endanger people, it necessitates aggressive government action with strong enforcement. https://twitter.com/...
Emma / @emma_leik: 87% percent of Facebook's global budget for time spent on classifying misinformation is earmarked for the US, while only 13% is set aside for the rest of the world. Oh & North American users make up 10% of the FB's daily active users. Great reporting by @sheeraf @daveyalba https://twitter.com/...
Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast: Facebook ruins other countries not just America. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Matt Ocko / @mattocko: What I am trying to understand is how committing the exact same sins with the exact same algos in VR is any better Like “sorry our cigarettes caused cancer & we lied about it but our new ‘mouthfire cylinders’ are way different & also you wear a diving mask while using them...” 🤔 https://twitter.com/...
Drew Olanoff / @yoda: the fake justification shield of “connecting the world” has worn off. https://twitter.com/...
Mohammed Zubair / @zoo_bear: Facebook's services are used to spread religious hatred in India, internal documents show. Company researchers identified calls to violence that coincided with the 2020 riots in Delhi that left 53 dead. Investigative series by @newley and @JeffHorwitz https://www.wsj.com/...
Dr. Daniel J. Winarick / @drwinarick: Facebook is sounding more and more like an international terrorist organization. https://twitter.com/...
@ap: Facebook saw India as at risk for hostile speech, but it lacked resources to stop misinformation such as local language moderators and content-flagging, according to leaked documents obtained by AP. That misinformation at times led to real-world violence. https://apne.ws/BQ23BS9
David Beard / @dabeard: “Following this test user's News Feed, I've seen more images of dead people in the past three weeks than I've seen in my entire life total,” the Facebook researcher wrote. Facebook fed the hate, violence, and misinformation. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Eric Bellman / @ericbellmanwsj: Facebook documents show its services are used to spread religious hatred in India. Company researchers identified calls to violence that coincided with the 2020 riots in Delhi that left 53 dead. The latest from @newley and @JeffHorwitz https://www.wsj.com/...
Ali Raza / @torontoraza: We all know social media algorithms promote outrage and incitement because it drives engagement, which ultimately boosts profits. The side effect is it destabilizes societies, but we seem to not care. Look what it's done to India. https://twitter.com/...
Saba Eitizaz / @sabaeitizaz: Inflammatory content on Facebook spiked 300% above previous levels at times during the months following December 2019, a period in which religious protests swept India, researchers wrote in a July 2020 report that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. https://twitter.com/...
Monique Goyens / @moniquegoyens: With this wealth of revelations, is the @EU_Commission still confident that its Code of Practice to tackle misinformation is the right approach? @julianevrb @divinameigs @OlafSteenfadt @VeraJourova @arcapde @BXLNicola https://twitter.com/...
@blackamazon: It would be really interesting to note that Facebook seems to have NEVER made an account for Black or marginalized people and seen how often they got fake content and how often that content originated from foreign actors ..... They just knew and don't give a damn https://twitter.com/...
@niemanlab: More on Facebook, this time from the @nytimes: “The documents also give new detail on how aware company researchers were after the election of the flow of misinformation that posited votes had been manipulated against Mr. Trump.” https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Dave Winer / @davewiner: Articles like this that use the term “Facebook” ambiguously are possibly deliberate attacks on free speech online. Facebook means at least 8 things, and it's not likely they're talking about Facebook the company here. https://twitter.com/...
Amarnath Amarasingam / @amaramarasingam: In 2019, a researcher employed by Facebook invented a user named Carol Smith Smith said she was interested in politics, parenting, and Christianity. Though never expressing interest in conspiracies, in just two days Facebook sent her to QAnon accounts. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix: Crucial report from @RMac18 and @sheeraf that will no doubt interest @RepAdamSchiff, @RepRaskin, @RepLizCheney & other members of the @January6thCmte charged with considering what factors such as online platforms helped create the conditions for violence. https://twitter.com/...
Frank Luntz / @frankluntz: “Facebook pushed some users into ‘rabbit holes,’ increasingly narrow echo-chambers where violent conspiracy theories thrived. People radicalized through these rabbit holes make up a small slice of total users, but at Facebook's scale, that can mean millions of individuals.” https://twitter.com/...
| Michael Riley / Bloomberg: |
More:
Dan Milmo / The Guardian: Frances Haugen: ‘I never wanted to be a whistleblower. But lives were in danger’
CNN: Not stopping ‘Stop the Steal:’ Facebook Papers paint damning picture of company's role in insurrection
Allie Malloy / CNN: Blumenthal says Facebook's calls for regulation are the ‘height of disingenuousness’
Alison Durkee / Forbes: Breitbart And Other Conservative Publishers Get ‘Special Treatment’: Here's What The ‘Facebook Papers’ Allege So Far
Shannon Bond / NPR: How the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement outwitted Facebook ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection
Salvador Rodriguez / CNBC: Facebook whistleblower releases documents to multiple news outlets showing company knows the harm it causes
Olafimihan Oshin / The Hill: Facebook official warns employees of ‘more bad headlines’: report
About Facebook: Our Comprehensive Approach to Protecting the US 2020 Elections Through Inauguration Day
Hans Nichols / Axios: Weeklong Facebook flood begins
Tweets:
Michael J. Stern / @michaeljstern1: Facebook is interested in the income they generate for themselves, and they are willing to let harm come to the country in order to increase their profits. https://www.cnn.com/...
Sal Rodriguez / @sal19: Facebook Friday News Dump: Facebook whistleblower releases documents to multiple news outlets showing company knows the harm it causes https://www.cnbc.com/...
Denver Riggleman / @repriggleman: Data and CT experts like me knew this; a monetized radicalization pipeline “After the Capitol insurrection and a wave of Storm the Capitol events across the country, we realized that the individual delegitimizing Groups, Pages, and slogans did constitute a cohesive movement.” https://twitter.com/...
Ellen Nakashima / @nakashimae: The best account yet of how Facebook fueled Jan. 6 violence. via @craigtimberg @lizzadwoskin @ReedAlbergotti https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Justin Hendrix / @justinhendrix: One of the weirdest things (in the @donie et al report) is this image. What a strange illustration. https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ben Swasey / @benswasey: This is really alarming. A Facebook experiment found that within just a week, it was suggested that a test user — “a conservative mom in the US south” — follow a QAnon page. by @shannonpareil/@BobbyAllyn: https://www.npr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Brian Stelter / @brianstelter: Atop Page One of @washingtonpost this morning: “Inside Facebook, Jan. 6 fueled a torrent of anger, regret” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Magloughlin / @magloughlina: Apple and Google banned Parler after Jan 6, citing its content moderation issues. I wonder if Facebook could've met those standards, given this info. https://twitter.com/...
Clare Duffy / @claresduffy: ICYMI: CNN is part of a consortium of news organizations reporting on the Facebook Papers. First up, this piece about what the company knew about the spread of Stop the Steal on its platform ahead of January 6. https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff: “Another [Facebook] staffer, referencing years of controversial and questionable decision-making by Facebook leadership around political speech concluded, “history will not judge us kindly.” https://www.cnn.com/...
@crispinburke: In the two years leading up to the 2020 election, Facebook removed over five *billion* fake accounts. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Donie O'Sullivan / @donie: How important was Facebook in the mobilization of Stop the Steal? Just listen to Stop the Steal organizer Scott Presler. Our full report w/@tarasubramaniam @claresduffy @Sarah_Boxer here: https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@modernhomesla: “Internal docs reveal Facebook's failed attempt 2 curb explosion of hate speech + misinfo ahead of + during Capitol riots, causing distress among employees.” Mid-Jan, Sheryl Sandberg, argues events leading 2 Jan 6, “largely” organized on other platforms. https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Juliette Kayyem / @juliettekayyem: “Relief flowed through Facebook in the days after the 2020 presidential election. . . But the high fives ...were premature. On Jan. 6, FB staffers expressed their horror in internal messages as they watched thousands of Trump supporters shouting 'stop the steal.'"@washingtonpost https://twitter.com/...
Raw Story / @rawstory: ‘History will not judge us kindly’: Facebook internal messages show employees fuming on Jan. 6 over company's role in Capitol riot https://www.rawstory.com/...
Newley Purnell / @newley: Reluctant to turn down the volume on viral content, Facebook is instead playing whack-a-mole with political groups it deems harmful, with little public disclosure or right of appeal. Facebook Files latest. By @JeffHorwitz @ScheckWSJ: https://www.wsj.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: OK, having read @sheeraf @RMac18 NYT report closely, it's really superb reporting. It walks thru everything leading up, during Jan 6th. It does a “truth sandwich” with damming evidence mostly from Facebook on both sides of Facebook spokesperson's “pride.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
| The Information: |
Tweets: @sheeraf, @ggreenwald, @brandyzadrozny, @craigsilverman, @amir, @jeffhorwitz, @mcbyrne, @seancasten, @davidclinchnews, @niemanlab, @rmac18, @charliehtweets, @monteiro, @realdrothschild, @katestarbird, @moonalice, @alexstamos, @wiczipedia, @kantrowitz, @bostonjoan, @juanof9, @skirchy, @markdistef, @william_fitz, @martinsfp, @drdenagrayson, @brianmcc, @jamesrbuk, @mitch_troy, @goldstein222, @timkarr, @drewpusateri, @parismartineau, @iankar_, and @alexeheath
More:
Sara Fischer / Axios: Nick Clegg told staff to prepare “for more bad headlines in the coming days” containing mischaracterizations of Facebook's research, motives, and priorities
Nadeem Badshah / The Guardian: Facebook executive says tech firms need stronger regulation
Washington Post: Docs: Facebook user reports of “false news” hit ~40K per hour on January 6; the Instagram account reported most often for inciting violence was @realdonaldtrump
Tweets:
She-Ra Frenkel / @sheeraf: @Bernstein @swodinsky The embargo was lifted on a small number of documents today based on the WSJ story that went up. There's a lot more coming and new documents being released every day.
Glenn Greenwald / @ggreenwald: The most amazing part is this FB executive, in that tweet announcing the censorship of the Biden docs, said they'd block the story pending a third-party “fact-check.” FB never released that fact-check. Why? Because everything, including a new book, proves the docs were real.
Brandy Zadrozny / @brandyzadrozny: The argument here is that media covers Facebook because we are...jealous? Wouldn't be the mass radicalization, ethnic cleansing, corporate deception, polarization, racist ad targeting, pandemic misinformation, constant spamming and scamming, researcher retaliation, teen mental... https://twitter.com/...
Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman: I find it a bit strange that some outlets working with FB whistleblower docs are treating FB's internal Stop the Steal report as news. We published the full text of it back in April. Genuinely curious why it's being prominently featured in new stories? https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Amir Efrati / @amir: A little more clarity... https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz: This pretty much covers all timing questions to the best of my understanding. There are lots of interesting stories to read. https://twitter.com/...
@mcbyrne: Glorious day. Also what happens when you hire bad people from both sides of the pond. https://twitter.com/...
Sean Casten / @seancasten: 10/ You can see that hacking in real time here BTW: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
David Clinch / @davidclinchnews: Each of those stories has snippets of information about different aspects of how harmful content was being addressed by the Facebook Integrity team. It may be interesting to see an overview of how all these snippets fit together. Also, a lot of issues for any team to deal with! https://twitter.com/...
@niemanlab: Big weekend for Facebook news... https://www.theinformation.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: In July 2019, a Facebook researcher created a test account modeled after a “conservative mom” from the South. It started by following Fox News and Sinclair Broadcasting. FB fed it a recommendation for QAnon content within three days and continued to do so. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Charlie Haynes / @charliehtweets: can't wait to start my new job on Monday running facebook's PR. I'm looking forward to getting a coffee, opening up the computer and having a nice relaxed first day! https://twitter.com/...
Mike Monteiro / @monteiro: All of this was done by design. These weren't bugs, they were features. https://www.theguardian.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
David Rothschild / @realdrothschild: We must end FB...the propaganda machine is evil https://twitter.com/...
Kate Starbird / @katestarbird: “... FB research ... in 2019 ... found that misinformation shared by politicians was more damaging than that coming from ordinary users. Yet the company maintained a policy that year that explicitly allowed political leaders to lie without facing the possibility of fact checks.” https://twitter.com/...
Roger McNamee / @moonalice: NYT just did FB a huge favor. They released the huge (and embargoed until Monday) 1/6 story on Friday night, diminishing its impact. NYT says they have an independent source. Was that source inside FB Comms? That would be a classic FB move.
Alex Stamos / @alexstamos: What would it take to get this consortium of media outlets looking at Facebook integrity docs to commit to publishing the underlying documents with every story (redacted for privacy)? These docs could revolutionize academic study of online harms but not without the real data.
Nina Jankowicz / @wiczipedia: Facebook moved too quickly to removed its election protection measures. In disinformation campaigns, Election Day is an inflection point, not an end point. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: The consortium of publications that Frances Haugen handed her documents to blew up tonight ahead of a Monday embargo. Get ready for lots of Facebook stories to drop tonight and tomorrow. It's a mess. https://twitter.com/...
Joan S. Pumpkins / @bostonjoan: Whatever happens, it is critical that the media doesn't become the story here. What these internal studies represent is a new basis to build shared facts across journalism, research, gov, and industry. https://twitter.com/...
Juan Ortiz Freuler / @juanof9: @alexstamos I mean, why aren't we asking Facebook to release these docs itself? They have many more to release as well. “They could revolutionize....”
Stephanie Kirchgaessner / @skirchy: It doesn't have to go down this way. Collaborations can be stressful and intense and usually the stories are difficult and complex. But in two collaborations I've worked on having one great big newsroom has been rewarding journalistically. There's so much to learn from each other https://twitter.com/...
Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef: Here's Associated Press tonight; “Every outlet has freedom to pursue whatever story it wants. Nonetheless, it's remarkable to see these news organizations... set aside some of their competitive impulses and work together to work on something unquestionably in the public interest”
William Fitzgerald / @william_fitz: “What the documents do not offer is a complete picture of decision making inside Facebook. ” fb is so so fukd if someone with regular access to zuck & sandberg decides they're willing to give up a lot of money and do the right thing by sharing direct info about decision making. https://twitter.com/...
Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp: Haha. I shouldn't laugh but this is sadly familiar. The rule with this stuff should be ‘we all hold the line’. Did they all really start folding over a piece from The Information? https://twitter.com/...
@drdenagrayson: One FB employee fumed, “This is not a new problem. We have been watching this behavior from politicians like Trump, and the—at best—wishy washy actions of company leadership, for years now....”
Brian McCullough / @brianmcc: Not saying I care. Just saying we talked about this coming on the bonus episode... https://www.techmeme.com/...
James Ball / @jamesrbuk: This is *high stakes* timing for the media vs Facebook as it coordinates with quarterly earnings day. While no-one reports to purposely damage stock price, if a huge group of major outlets publish simultaneously and it's outweighed in markets by Facebook results...that's a moment https://twitter.com/...
Mitchell Troyanovsky / @mitch_troy: @iankar_ Bit different when what they're reporting on is a direct competitor to them id say
Daniel Goldstein / @goldstein222: @iankar_ Whoa, such a surprise that all the huge media companies that Facebook steals Ad dollars from want to take them down Hmmmm...that doesn't seem suspicious at all
Tim Karr / @timkarr: Facebook undoubtedly in full on crisis mode as it prepares for a series of exposés Monday from the likes of AP, Reuters, CNN, the NYT, WaPo, Le Monde and other outlets working in coordination to report on @FrancesHaugen's massive trove of documents. https://twitter.com/...
Drew Pusateri / @drewpusateri: can confirm https://twitter.com/...
Paris Martineau / @parismartineau: Facebook should have just tweeted that they were mad because all the tech reporters were hanging out in a Slack group called ‘Apparently we are a consortium now’ https://www.theinformation.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
| Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News: |
Tweets: @brandyzadrozny, @cwarzel, @broderick, @tribelaw, @mollyjongfast, @hilaryluros, @tomfgoodwin, @lavanyaballal, @rmac18, @dannagal, @tackettdc, @brianklaas, @aljwhite, @ttp_updates, @anneapplebaum, @jaxalemany, @zeynep, @oneunderscore__, @c_c_krebs, @grimlyspoken, @timmarchman, @melissaryan, @edzitron, @robpegoraro, @clearing_fog, @blackamazon, @eliotwb, @jeffhorwitz, @evilgalprods, @karenkornbluh, @wiczipedia, @jimhansondc, @cydharrell, @jeffhorwitz, @juliacarriew, @drdenagrayson, @davidoatkins, @resistbot, @peterwsinger, @davidoatkins, @juliacarriew, @jbadomics, @fchollet, @amir, @jesselehrich, and @daveyalba. Thanks:@thekenyeung
More:
Edward Moyer / CNET: Scrutiny of Facebook ramps up with flurry of new reports based on leaked documents
Brigid Kennedy / The Week: Facebook VP reportedly told employees to brace themselves for ‘more bad headlines’
Karissa Bell / Engadget: Facebook researchers were warning about its recommendations fueling QAnon in 2019
Jessica E. Lessin / The Information: Facebook's Rebranding Is About Tim Cook, Not Whistleblowers
Tweets:
Brandy Zadrozny / @brandyzadrozny: New from me: New internal documents show Facebook has long known—via years of experimentation and research—that its algorithms and recommendation systems push users to extremes. To researchers they gaslit, “Facebook literally helped facilitate a cult.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel: this facebook internal experiment reminds me of this 2017 @broderick piece! https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Ryan Broderick / @broderick: I knew that every time I spoke to a Facebook PR they were, at least, trying to discourage me. But the last month of Facebook leaks has been hard to process. Just years of my life wasted talking to people who knew what we were all reporting was real and just didn't give a shit. https://twitter.com/...
Laurence Tribe / @tribelaw: To be clear: Facebook's radicalizing business model is NOT free speech. The obstacles to regulating FB's dangerous algorithms aren't constitutional or technical but political and economic. Don't let that Zuckerman dude hide behind the First Amendment. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast: Facebook knew they were radicalizing people and they did nothing to stop it https://www.nbcnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Hil.i.am / @hilaryluros: Not only did they do nothing to stop it...they actively and cheerfully encouraged it. They were complicit. https://twitter.com/...
Tom Goodwin / @tomfgoodwin: It's been obvious since about 2012 that Facebook made viewpoints more extreme, then normalized extreme viewpoints, destroyed any middle ground, created enraged tribes, and made money from outrage. How is it that we act surprised to discover data about it now??? https://twitter.com/...
Lavanya Ballal / @lavanyaballal: I am sure as the biggest market of FB - India was a Guinea pig . https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: Facebook took enforcement action against QAnon a year later in Aug. 2020. The researcher ended up quitting in part because of the company's slowness in decision making. Compare the company's statement on this research with an excerpt from her own departure note. https://twitter.com/...
Dr. Danna Young / @dannagal: This is so important. As some scholars have tried to “debunk the echo chamber myth” (that SM causes most users to restrict to belief-confirming content), the reality is that a small number of users end up down these rabbit holes. 📣Outliers MATTER when operating AT A GIANT SCALE https://twitter.com/...
Michael Tackett / @tackettdc: “Haven't we had enough time to figure out how to manage discourse without enabling violence?” one employee wrote on an internal message board at the height of the Jan. 6 turmoil. “We've been fueling this fire for a long time and we shouldn't be surprised” https://apnews.com/...
Brian Klaas / @brianklaas: Social media has played a major role in transforming otherwise normal, well-intentioned people into deranged authoritarian conspiracist zealots. Regulating it properly is an urgent challenge for all democracies. https://twitter.com/...
Alan White / @aljwhite: In which it knew it was pushing users to extremes, is accused of having “literally helped facilitate a cult” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@ttp_updates: THREAD: For months, TTP monitored and recorded threats from militia and far-right actors online In January, we released what we gathered in that time: militia recruiting, threats to public officials, even calls for martyrdom—all posted openly on Facebook https://www.techtransparencyproject.org / ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Anne Applebaum / @anneapplebaum: “Facebook pushed some users into “rabbit holes,” increasingly narrow echo chambers where violent conspiracy theories thrived...at Facebook's scale, that can mean millions of individuals.' https://www.nbcnews.com/... via @nbcnews
Jacqueline Alemany / @jaxalemany: Facebook has yet to fully comply with requests for data from the House select committee investigating the 1/6 events. Read @craigtimberg, @lizzadwoskin, @ReedAlbergotti on FB & Jan. 6 > https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Zeynep Tufekci / @zeynep: “The body of research consistently found Facebook pushed some users into “rabbit holes,” increasingly narrow echo chambers where violent conspiracy theories thrived.” https://twitter.com/...
Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__: New from the Facebook leaks, by @BrandyZadrozny: Facebook staffers created a Trump-loving, Fox News-watching fake identity. The account went wherever the algorithm told it to go. It went full-on QAnon in two days. Facebook told nobody about this. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Chris Krebs / @c_c_krebs: Important reporting including insights from @noUpside. I'm convinced Covid-related drop in community-centric social activities (kids sports, offices, etc) lowered barriers to crazytown & accelerated radicalization along multiple conspiracy theories. https://twitter.com/...
Grimm / @grimlyspoken: @oneunderscore__ @BrandyZadrozny What happened in Myanmar is a literal precursor to what is happening here. Facebook watched an ethnic group get slaughtered, did nothing, and now had facilitated and even pushed a homegrown domestic threat in the United States. This article is great but I am absolutely disgusted.
Tim Marchman / @timmarchman: Incredible. Facebook internally reproduced the outside reporting that has been done on it, showing that the way its products were built promoted QAnon and the anti-vax movement in ways that fed on one another, and did ... nothing. https://twitter.com/...
Melissa Ryan / @melissaryan: So many reporters and researchers have run similar experiments over the years. Always with the same results. Every time Facebook would say the experiment was flawed and that wasn't actually how the platform worked. Every. Single. Time. https://twitter.com/...
Ed Dead Redemption / @edzitron: The years and years and years of the media taking Facebook at their word and giving them puff press was a bad idea https://twitter.com/...
Rob Pegoraro / @robpegoraro: “a barrage of extreme, conspiratorial, and graphic content”: how one of Facebook's own researchers described the path of a test user created in 2019 with tastes in politics, parenting, Christianity, Fox News and Trump to see how Facebook's recommendation algorithms would respond. https://twitter.com/...
ClearingTheFog / @clearing_fog: Please read this. So many of us have been shouting for years that Facebook is *knowingly* facilitating extremism, and yet they've continued to get a pass in our media, as if they were somehow “trying.” Their own internal documents repeatedly prove that they knew. https://twitter.com/...
@blackamazon: Only white sources. No mention of the reports on racial overtones or targeting. Makes the entire story about how “white people are mislead” And not that Facebook let itself be hunting grounds for people of color for YEARS Gotta love the “learning” going on from white news https://twitter.com/...
Eliot Brown / @eliotwb: Facebook exec (and a Harvard pal of Zuckerberg) recommends curbs to virality to stave off bad effects Head of ads responds: “'If we remove a small percentage of reshares from people's inventory,' he wrote, ‘they decide to come back to Facebook less.’” https://www.wsj.com/...
Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz: This story with @ScheckWSJ shows how Facebook's platforms might be different - if it wanted them to be. We know the controversies over content moderation - per @masnick, it can't be done well at scale. (The “at scale” part might be optimistic, though). https://www.wsj.com/...
Karen Kornbluh / @karenkornbluh: Shocking new details. Confirms that government has been derelict in not acting. There were always ways to regulate *the design* upstream from the content - it was never about the “truth police.” Now so much harm has been done https://twitter.com/...
Nina Jankowicz / @wiczipedia: Important reporting from @BrandyZadrozny. Critically, as she notes, many researchers were confirming and re-confirming the danger of Group recommendations for years before Facebook took action. So much wasted time. https://twitter.com/...
Jim Hanson / @jimhansondc: That's fun What happened when they made a woke identity? Wait They never did that? Hmmm https://twitter.com/...
Cyd Harrell / @cydharrell: couple more things: 1. some of the resistance to user research is because we find inconvenient things that people would rather not know (@mulegirl talks about this a lot) 2. researchers do a service by documenting, but need to be realistic about our chances of changing anything https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz: This story gets into important territory about the continuity between different conspiracy movements — and how one engenders the next. Also, the renaming of a tool called “Rabbithole” as “Drebbel” makes more sense now that I know it's the name of the inventor of the submarine. https://twitter.com/...
Julia Carrie Wong / @juliacarriew: For years Facebook treated reporters who came to it with concerns about how it seemed to be pushing people toward extremism and conspiracies like we were hysterical scolds making mountains out of mole hills but actually it knew that we were right https://www.nytimes.com/...
@drdenagrayson: Bottom line: #Facebook and Zuck *knew* that they were fomenting hate and violence in advance of the #January6thInsurrection. They didn't care, because they PROFITED off it. They're a cancer on our democracy. Act accordingly. #DeleteFacebook https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
David Atkins / @davidoatkins: All the big journo influencers on twitter are beating on each other over Popularism, when THIS is the answer. People, especially low-trust voters, get their news on Facebook. Facebook is driving them to right-wing conspiracy theories. Policy and activist slogans are irrelevant. https://twitter.com/...
@resistbot: “That researcher said Smith's Facebook experience was ‘a barrage of extreme, conspiratorial, and graphic content.’” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Peter W. Singer / @peterwsinger: This may be one of the most damning of the Facebook leaks... https://twitter.com/...
David Atkins / @davidoatkins: Facebook is poison. It has always been poison. And they knew it. https://twitter.com/...
Julia Carrie Wong / @juliacarriew: I just want to scream https://twitter.com/...
@fchollet: FB's algorithmic mind-steering has only one stable attractor: extreme radicalization. https://twitter.com/...
Amir Efrati / @amir: Looks like the piece we published may have ended the embargo? In case, first Facebook consortium member out of the gate is the great @BrandyZadrozny from NBC: https://twitter.com/...
Jesse Lehrich / @jesselehrich: full QAnon in 2 days. & Facebook scoffs at anyone who suggests their algos are problematic. https://twitter.com/...
Davey Alba / @daveyalba: @RMac18 @sheeraf I was reading a draft of this piece earlier today and it brought back the pit in my stomach of total helplessness in the months before the election to Jan. 6. Just a really good tick-tock of the events and how FB employees dealt with it. What they knew. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Thanks:@thekenyeung
| Craig Timberg / Washington Post: |
Tweets: @aaschapiro, @clarajeffery, @aureliacotta, @sfielding90, @climatewarrior7, @labourlewis, @newsremote, @gary_machado_, @bobcesca_go, @2020istrash2020, @paulmasonnews, @brainnotonyet, @annmlipton, @stevesilberman, @wiczipedia, @emilybell, @bgrueskin, @katestarbird, @moonalice, @rmac18, @ecmclaughlin, @richismo77, @sal19, @jesselehrich, @donie, @patti_foss, @jgo4justice, @jgo4justice, @jgo4justice, @can, @green_footballs, @slpng_giants, @slpng_giants, @juliadavisnews, @jesselehrich, @stevekovach, @donie, @joshsternberg, @caseynewton, @caseynewton, @anothercultland, @gretchenspeters, @new_narrative, @viacristiano, and @kantrowitz
More:
EditorDavid / Slashdot: Facebook Accused of Tolerating Dangerous and Criminal Behavior to Preserve Profitability
Tweets:
Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro: It's striking to see Facebook double down on a PR strategy of lecturing journalists about how to do their jobs - in response to WaPo reporting on a whistleblower complaint filed to the SEC, FB retorts that, a “single-source” story is “beneath” WaPo. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Clara Jeffery / @clarajeffery: 3/ Now a new whistleblower has gone to the Post's @craigtimberg with confirmation, and more allegations, and has evidently gone to the SEC as well: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Aurelia Cotta / @aureliacotta: Exactly, private secret FB groups can do anything, untraceable. Organizing insurrections, anti-vaxx campaigns, terrorist attacks, human trafficking .... and how on earth can any public company host and profit from organized crime like this? They aren't exempt from RICO https://twitter.com/...
Sean Fielding / @sfielding90: Not just Failsworth where @Facebook allows irresponsible people with extremist views to peddle lies and disinformation in closed groups posing as “community” groups then. What has to happen for them to act? https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Clive Lewis MP / @labourlewis: I gave up on: “Facebook's vice-president of integrity said,...” Facebook boss ‘not willing to protect public from harm’ https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Nestor Vega / @newsremote: FaceBook knew by their algorithms. That hate and controversial people creat engagement which in turn creates longer time spent which in turns = more Ads served. It's always about the money. https://twitter.com/...
Gary Machado / @gary_machado_: Well, many Members European Parliament are supporting an exemption of moderation for all vaguely-defined media, thus supporting an extended “white list” policy of Facebook. #DSA Bonus: some say they support it because they don't trust and dislike Facebook. Hilarious, and sad. https://twitter.com/...
Bob Cesca / @bobcesca_go: Wasn't there a story a while back about a similar deal between FB and Shapiro's The Daily Wire? https://twitter.com/...
StevieSaid_no_flat_tires / @2020istrash2020: I stumbled across like 6 hate groups on fb a few weeks ago. Reported them. Fb said they didn't violate any TOS. I believe this shit. https://twitter.com/...
Paul Mason / @paulmasonnews: And here we were thinking it's only Facebook's algorithm that promotes far right hate... https://twitter.com/...
Karl / @brainnotonyet: The right has been lying about social media bias while creating a massive far-right propaganda and radicalization platform under those false pretenses. If only people had been warning of this for years. This is a great example of weaponized unreality and its inversion of reality https://twitter.com/...
Ann Lipton / @annmlipton: i mean the fascinating thing again is that the whistleblower is going to the sec. is that bc of protections the securities laws afford against retaliation? https://twitter.com/...
Steve Silberman / @stevesilberman: One of the things that will astonish historians is how much damage to the entire world Trump's tight little circle of pedophiles, criminals, Russian agents, meth-freaks, and psychopaths was able to do with sheer bullying. “Big Tech” is the best friend these scumbags ever had. https://twitter.com/...
Nina Jankowicz / @wiczipedia: On Russian interference in 2016, a FB comms official said: “It will be a flash in the pan. Some legislators will get pissy. And then in a few weeks they will move onto something else. Meanwhile we are printing money in the basement, and we are fine.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Emily Bell / @emilybell: One of the most depressing aspects of this is that the ‘comms official’ was pretty much right. The Honest Ads Act etc - never came to pass.FB enjoyed record $$ https://twitter.com/...
Bill Grueskin / @bgrueskin: Facebook is like a tobacco grower, an asbestos manufacturer and a lead-paint supplier, all rolled into one company https://twitter.com/...
Kate Starbird / @katestarbird: Again, we hear that instead of holding highly visible, “repeat offender” accounts & domains to higher standards (e.g. around the spread of misinformation), FB whitelisted them, fearing political and PR blowback. And again that private groups are toxic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Roger McNamee / @moonalice: An epic thread from @TTP_updates details how FB handled right wing extremist groups during 2020 and into early 2021. They found clear evidence that FB enabled and amplified these groups after election and allowed them to operate online stores. Management knew. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: This story took a while to report and was based on docs obtained by Frances Haugen + others that I've reported on in the past. It includes this March report that we reported at @BuzzFeedNews. FB took it down internally after our story. So we published it: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
Elizabeth C. McLaughlin / @ecmclaughlin: COMPLICIT. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@richismo77: Facebook breathed relief that immediately post-Election Day 2020, it could go back to taking fascist money for publishing insurrectionist deza for 1/6/21. How much did it take in? I hope it was worth it to Zuckerberg, who really seems more Jason. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@sal19: Yet another Facebook whistleblower has spoken up. Reporting by the @WashingtonPost https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Jesse Lehrich / @jesselehrich: .@facebook employee bemoaning FB's role in the insurrection: “Never forget the day Trump rode down the escalator in 2015, called for a ban on Muslims entering the US & we determined that it violated our policies & yet we explicitly overrode the policy...” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Donie O'Sullivan / @donie: “At Facebook, I soon learned, there's no will to actually fix problems, in particular if doing so might reduce user engagement, and therefore profits. Instead, management treated everything as a PR issue only.”
Patti / @patti_foss: @profcarroll What is wrong with these people? They knowingly used toxic hate, propaganda which have harmed alot of people, to win elections, while so many hide behind religion. Who does that to people in your own country?
Jessica González / @jgo4justice: But let's focus on what this means: a second whistleblower has come out, at great personal risk, to corroborate Frances Haugen's revelations that Facebook hasn't done enough to stop hate, conspiracies and violence organized on its platform.
Jessica González / @jgo4justice: And I'm feeling “pissy” about it because Facebook's failures have put me and my community at greater risk for hate, harassment, violence and disinformation campaigns aimed to decrease the number of Latinx people who turn out to vote.
Jessica González / @jgo4justice: He can say he didn't say this, but for any of us who have advocated for FB to clean up its act over the past decade, this sounds awfully familiar.
@can: One thing to remember is that the only actual thing any Facebook employee could have done is actually quit. Raising flags and collecting checks as the democracy goes down the drain is essentially Just Following Orders https://twitter.com/...
Charles Johnson / @green_footballs: Wow. The latest allegation is that Facebook specifically EXEMPTED hate sites like Breitbart “News” from policy enforcement. New whistleblower claims Facebook allowed hate, illegal activity to go unchecked https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants: We even ran ads on Facebook targeted at @facebook employees asking them if they knew why Breitbart was given special treatment. No answer. Now it's clear why. Kaplan was flying cover for Breitbart the whole time. What an absolute outrage. We need transparency now. https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants: Knew it. Knew it exactly when it was happening. Here it is. Definitive proof that @facebook made special concessions for Breitbart when they set up their “trusted news” tab. @campbell_brown, their head of news, wouldn't answer why. Now we know. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Julia Davis / @juliadavisnews: Facebook official about the controversy re Russian election interference: “It will be a flash in the pan. Some legislators will get pissy... in a few weeks they will move onto something else. Meanwhile we are printing money in the basement, & we are fine.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Jesse Lehrich / @jesselehrich: .@Facebook really seems to think they can just go full Trumpian war against the press & it'll end well. here's journalist-turned-FB spox Erin McPike berating WaPo for writing a story off a single... whistleblower's sworn affidavit? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Steve Kovach / @stevekovach: Facebook responded to this by insulting the Washington Post instead of addressing the whistleblower's allegations. https://twitter.com/...
Donie O'Sullivan / @donie: The whistleblower is anonymous but has spoken to @craigtimberg, who broke the story. Check out Facebook's response to the story.... https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Josh Sternbag / @joshsternberg: A new whistleblower affidavit submitted by a former Facebook employee Friday alleges that the company prizes growth and profits over combatting hate speech, misinformation and other threats to the public https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: (Most of the charges here are oft-rehearsed and it's not clear what new evidence there is in this new SEC complaint, aside from some fresh hearsay)
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: My joke idea for a new Facebook name has been “Whistleblowers Inc.” because it would make stories about Facebook whistleblowers too confusing to follow. Anyway there's a new Facebook whistleblower https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@anothercultland: ummmm, that statement isn't exactly a denial https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Gretchen Peters / @gretchenspeters: Notice that @tuckerbounds and other #Facebook execs are not denying they said it. They are just counterattacking. #typical https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Mike Walker / @new_narrative: Another whistleblower accuses Facebook of valuing growth and profits over the combating of hate speech and misinformation https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Cristiano Lima / @viacristiano: 🚨 Breaking: Another Facebook whistleblower has alleged in an SEC complaint that the company prizes its profits over battling hate speech & misinformation https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... via @craigtimberg
Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz: They're gonna run out of whistles https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
| Tom Warren / The Verge: |
Microsoft reverses its decision to remove code editing feature Hot Reload in its upcoming .NET 6 SDK, after backlash from the open source community — .NET 6 will now include Hot Reload across multiple platforms — Microsoft is reversing a decision to remove a key feature …
Tweets: @davepermen, @peterzaitsev, @ardalis, @mpdreamz, @isotopp, @curious_drive, @fallenhitokiri, @starbuxman, @peterzaitsev, @tomwarren, @tomwarren, and @tomwarren
More:
Tom Warren / The Verge: Microsoft angers the .NET open source community with a controversial decision
Tim Anderson / The Register: Microsoft under fire again from open-source .NET devs: Hot Reload feature pulled for sake of Visual Studio sales
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson / BetaNews: Microsoft decides not to drop Hot Reload from .NET 6 after open-source community backlash
Tweets:
@davepermen: It's scary to see how often Microsoft forces their people to shut up. There was a huge war with windows phone going. Now they all have to act like it never existed. Doesnt seem like a healthy company, sadly. https://twitter.com/...
Peter Zaitsev / @peterzaitsev: Great to see Microsoft listening to Open Source Community https://www.theverge.com/... #opensource
@ardalis: Good article, with some new info at least on the source of the decision. I'm certain most of the .NET engineers with whom I've worked and gotten to know for YEARS are absolutely LIVID about this, and I feel for them and their frustration. 😥 indeed. This was self-inflicted. https://twitter.com/...
Martijn Laarman / @mpdreamz: While I'm exited for #dotnet hot reload making a return this cycle needs to be broken. Visual Studio and #dotnet become better through rigid design of the CLI and file formats. Stop designing .NET for Visual Studio https://devblogs.microsoft.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@isotopp: “Can we trust Microsoft with Open Source?” Microsoft removed hot reload from open source dotnet, and actively sabotages better C# support in VS code, because it wants to protect VS Studio. Not smart, and shows that OSS friendly MS still is just a facade. https://dusted.codes/...
Timo Zimmermann / @fallenhitokiri: It doesn't matter if you are invested in the dotNet ecosystem, but with VSCode, GtiHub and other tools I'd suggest paying attention to this https://dusted.codes/...
Josh Long / @starbuxman: Good news! They reversed course on this. Right on, @microsoft and 🙏 https://twitter.com/...
Peter Zaitsev / @peterzaitsev: The second worst thing you can do after taking Open Source code proprietary is remove Open Source code between Beta and Release https://dusted.codes/...
Tom Warren / @tomwarren: Microsoft has reversed its controversial .NET 6 decision after a public outcry from the open source community. The company says “Hot Reload capability will be in the general availability build of the .NET 6 SDK available on November 8th.” Full details: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
| Catalin Cimpanu / The Record: |
CISA warns of malware discovered in npm package UAParser.js, which has 6M-7M downloads weekly, that installs a password stealer and a crypto miner — A massively popular JavaScript library (npm package) was hacked today and modified with malicious code that downloaded and installed … Source:
More:
MRT / Market Research Telecast: Malicious code discovered in widely used JavaScript library UAParser.js
Ryan Flowers / Hackaday: Supply Chain Attack: NPM Library Used By Facebook And Others Was Compromised
Lawrence Abrams / BleepingComputer: Popular NPM library hijacked to install password-stealers, miners
Ryan Naraine / SecurityWeek: ‘Critical Severity’ Warning for Malware Embedded in Popular JavaScript Library
Pierluigi Paganini / Security Affairs: Supply-chain attack on NPM Package UAParser, which has millions of daily downloads
Ravie Lakshmanan / The Hacker News: Popular NPM Package Hijacked to Publish Crypto-mining Malware
Tweets:
Catalin Cimpanu / @campuscodi: NEW: CISA warned today about the compromise of a major JavaScript/npm library with millions of weekly downloads -The library, called UAParser.js, was compromised with a cryptominer -Library author said their account was hijacked https://therecord.media/... https://twitter.com/...
@michalczukm: Crap, this one is pretty popular. I also remember using it once. It is widely used (~7M monthly), so your deps might depend on it. Few versions are compromised. Take a look at node_modules pits and lock files in your projects #Node #javascript https://twitter.com/...
Sami Laiho / @samilaiho: Embedded malware in ua-parser-js in npm https://github.com/... Classification: Severe, Solution: Update, Exploit: Unknown
John Smart / @thesmart: Package manager day of reckoning is approaching. This is such a massive problem no one talks enough about. Lock. Your. Packages! https://twitter.com/...
Adam Baldwin / @adam_baldwin: I've got 2 responses to this tweet. You are responsible for what you require() - take your lumps for updating and not vetting changes. These clowns wasted their access on a cryptominer, smh. https://twitter.com/...
Jamon / @jamonholmgren: Every time one of these compromises happens, I wonder how many others are going undetected. Especially lessor-known packages. It appears that macOS wasn't affected, but who knows. Going to be digging into it more today. https://twitter.com/...
Rasmus Andersson / @rsms: Is anyone actually surprised by this? I just assume half of the packages on npm are malicious (intentionally or accidentally.) It is important to review all 3rd party code from sources that you don't have a high trust level already established with. There are no shortcuts. https://twitter.com/...
David Flanagan / @__davidflanagan: I feel like NPM revolutionized software development for the web and now has the potential to destroy software development for the web https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Us-Cert / @uscert_gov: Versions (0.7.29, 0.8.0, and 1.0.0 ) of a popular NPM package named ua-parser-js was found to contain malicious code. Please update to the patched versions (0.7.30, 0.8.1, 1.0.1). More in our alert: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/... GitHub advisory: https://github.com/...
Rob Joyce / @nsa_csdirector: Important @CISAgov alert: Malware inserted into widely used JavaScript library (npm package) AParser.js which reads information stored inside user-agent strings. Developers must update to patched versions: 0.7.30, 0.8.1, 1.0.1 https://therecord.media/...
Scary Mary Branscombe / @marypcbuk: Software supply chain problems and of course it's a cryptominer. Crypot is why we can't have nice things https://twitter.com/...
Bytesafe / @bytesafedev: Beware: compromised versions of #npm package ua-parser-js. Malicious versions have been deprecated and flagged. Details: https://github.com/... Take steps to handle your dependencies securely. #node #javascript #nodejs #supplychainsecurity
Jim Nitterauer / @jnitterauer: This won't end well. Malware found in npm package with millions of weekly downloads - The Record by Recorded Future https://therecord.media/...
Drew Church / @drewchurch: Another (IMO) supply chain compromise - this time with a popular JS library ua-parser-js. 2.5m public repos on GH, 7m weekly downloads on NPM. Oof. https://github.com/...
Catalin Cimpanu / @campuscodi: IOCs here: https://github.com/... Here's a very sane advice from GitHub's security team: https://twitter.com/...
| Richard Lawler / The Verge: |
Tesla rolls back its FSD beta from version 10.3, which improved many items like brake light and turn signal detection, to 10.2 after “seeing some issues” — Elon Musk didn't specify what issues the company found — Tesla's decision to test its “Full Self Driving” …
Tweets: @elonmusk, @snazzyq, @ryanmhickman, @therideshareguy, @petegaines, @anthraxjones, and @grady_booch
More:
Tweets:
Elon Musk / @elonmusk: Seeing some issues with 10.3, so rolling back to 10.2 temporarily. Please note, this is to be expected with beta software. It is impossible to test all hardware configs in all conditions with internal QA, hence public beta.
Quinn Nelson / @snazzyq: Mistakes happen and are understandable but the quantity of bugs in this release are shocking and frankly, dangerous. Can't help but think this is a result of shipping upon deadline rather than completion. It's okay when it's a phone. Not okay when it's a 5,000 lbs car. https://twitter.com/...
Ryan Hickman / @ryanmhickman: This is insane. I expect this situation all the time as I test unreleased versions of Android and Google apps. The consequences are that sometimes my TV or phone misbehaves. To test a safety system for a lethal vehicle like this is beyond acceptable. FSD should be halted. https://twitter.com/...
Harry Campbell / @therideshareguy: Lol this seems dangerous https://twitter.com/...
Pete Gaines / @petegaines: it is fucking insane that a car company is allowed to have a beta software for adaptive cruise control 1) called “full self driving” 2) IN A BETA TEST WHERE EVERY USER IS THE BETA TESTER https://twitter.com/...
| Julia Kollewe / The Guardian: |
Tesco, UK's largest supermarket chain, was targeted by hackers on Saturday, halting orders on its app and website through Sunday — Consumers unable to book or amend deliveries after ‘attempt made to interfere with systems’ — Tesco has been hit by hackers, leaving thousands … More:
Russell Hotten / BBC: Tesco say website and app down after hack attempt
Amy Coles / Sky News: Tesco website and app disrupted following ‘attempt to interfere with our systems’
Barry Collins / Forbes: Tesco Blames Cyberattack For Day-Long Website Outage
| Chris O'Brien / The French Tech Journal: |
Profile of France-based BlaBlaCar, a long distance carpooling marketplace with 80% of its riders outside of France and 60% outside of Europe — BlaBlaCar has become an icon of the French Tech ecosystem. But the mobility company that wants to efficiently help people get from Point A to Point B … Tweets:
Chris O'Brien / @obrien: With @BlaBlaCar celebrating 15 years, CEO @nbrusson looks back at the company's journey, including some wrong turns. A couple of years ago, there were whispers the company had hit a dead end. Now it's thriving and prepping for a possible IPO next year. https://frenchtechjournal.com/ ...
| Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: |
Brazil-based Hash, which develops white label payment infrastructure for non-financial B2B companies looking to offer banking services, raises a $40M Series C — Hash, a payment infrastructure fintech, announced today that it has raised $40 million in a Series C funding round co-led by QED Investors and Kaszek.| Kenrick Cai / Forbes India: |
Profile of Databricks CEO and co-founder Ali Ghodsi, who turned the data analytics startup into a company worth $28B, on track to reach ~$1B in sales in 2022 — Ali Ghodsi was happily researching AI at Berkeley when he helped invent a revolutionary bit of code—and he wanted to give it away for free.More:
Tweets:
| Danny Palmer / ZDNet: |
Researchers detail how hackers are using FiveSys, a rootkit with a Microsoft-issued digital signature, to steal the login credentials of gamers in China — FiveSys rootkit somehow used a valid digital signature to help bypass cybersecurity measures in order to steal usernames and passwords from victims.More:
EditorDavid / Slashdot: Traffic-Redirecting Rootkit Somehow Got a Microsoft-issued Digital Signature
Ravie Lakshmanan / The Hacker News: Researchers Discover Microsoft-Signed FiveSys Rootkit in the Wild
Tweets:
Virus Bulletin / @virusbtn: Bitdefender researchers have identified a rootkit with a Microsoft-issued digital signature. The rootkit is used to proxy traffic to Internet addresses that interest the attackers (for credential theft and in-game-purchase hijacking). https://www.bitdefender.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Beaumont / @gossithedog: Press coverage. One thing to note is this isn't a new thing - it's been happening for about a year that people have been getting MS signed rootkits through the certification process. Two tweets prior there's a massive list of lots of different types. https://www.zdnet.com/...
| Lizzy Lawrence / Protocol: |
A look at productivity influencers who center their content around apps like Notion, Excel, and Asana, offering advice on how to stay organized — This is the creators' internet. The rest of us are just living in it. We're accustomed to the scores of comedy TikTokers … Tweets:
Tren Griffin / @trengriffin: On the topic of productivity influencers, there is PowerPoint Spice with 72K YouTube subscribers. https://m.youtube.com/...
Gavin Baker / @gavinsbaker: Love it that there are “Productivity Influencers.” It is getting easier and easier to monetize personal passions/interests/obsessions. Interesting that a lot of this seems TikTok centric. https://www.protocol.com/...
Jeremie Berrebi / @jberrebi: Interesting article about Productivity Influencers https://www.protocol.com/...
Tren Griffin / @trengriffin: 1/ A vision of the Excel screen with the left-right function paired with Drake's “Toosie Slide” popped into her head. Kat Norton, also known as Miss Excel, is one of a very small number of people who can have a dance party to Microsoft Excel tips. https://www.protocol.com/...
@protocol: This is the creators' internet, the rest of us are just living in it. That goes for Notion creators, too. https://www.protocol.com/...
@protocol: If you, like us, spent a good portion of 2020 designing the perfect Notion homepage, we've got just the story for you. https://www.protocol.com/...
August Bradley / @augustbradley: Fun article in @protocol about “productivity influencers” working with specific apps. Tells my story of using @NotionHQ to build a business, and fellow Notion creator @fro_dera. + others working with Excel, Asana, Evernote. Excellent piece by @LizzyLaw_ https://www.protocol.com/...
| Manish Singh / TechCrunch: |
Indian startup Clear, which helps individuals and businesses file tax returns and more, raises a $75M Series C from Kora Capital, Stripe, and others — Stripe has made its second investment in India, just days after disclosing the first. One of the world's most valuable startups … More:
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| Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat: |
Tweets: @niron, @calcalistech, and @groveventures
Source:
More:
Tsani Gramatikova / Grails: US startup Metrolink raised $22 million in a Seed round
Tweets:
@niron: Israeli startup Metrolink, founded by the former head of the IDF's technological unit 81, raises $22 million seed round led by Grove Ventures and Eclipse Ventures. Here's the full list of startups that raised money in 2021 so far: http://technologer.net/funding https://www.calcalistech.com/ ...
| Christine Hall / TechCrunch: |
| Drew Harwell / Washington Post: |
More:
Tweets:
Andrew G. Ferguson / @profferguson: Revealing @drewharwell article on the growth of “surveillance as a service” through community license plate readers. #surveillance https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Henry Grabar / @henrygrabar: Crime paranoia is driving hundreds of HOAs to install license plate readers to track local comings and goings https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@constans: It's funny how the people who extol how great their community is and how they could never live in a city then go on to become extraordinarily paranoid about crime in their supposed utopian neighborhood. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Elizabeth Dwoskin / @lizzadwoskin: Another great read by @drewharwell who shows the rise of license plate reading surveillance “as a service” - and how it nearly tore this Colorado town apart. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Adrian Daub / @adriandaub: Suburban racial paranoia meets Silicon Valley solutionism — what could possibly go wrong? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: The combination of smartphones and online databases means we're tracked multiple times a day in the physical world. License plate scanners, facial recognition in retail stores & Ring doorbells means private citizens now have spying Orwellian capabilities. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro: “This is not just for million-dollar homes,” Flock's founder, Garrett Langley, said. “This is America at its core.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Jim Duncan / @jimduncan: License plate scanners operated by HOAs. Searchable by neighbors. What could go wrong? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Lori Montgomery / @loriamontgomery: A new point of friction between crime-fearing residents and their privacy-minded neighbors. Via @drewharwell https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@mediaverse: Great story. These scanners simply play on one's “feelings” about safety and crime. License plate scanners were supposed to bring peace of mind. Instead they tore the neighborhood apart. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Earlier Picks
| Leah Nylen / Politico: |
Tweets: @jason_kint, @snowden, @patrickmcgee_, @chouinardjc, @kevinakwok, @joshraby, @modestproposal1, @jamiepastore9, @techwontsaveus, @jason_kint, @senblumenthal, @jeffhauser, @adfichter, @fynnderella1, @atomicadman, @dougsaunders, @marie_haynes, @courtneyr, @khushitavasant, @theregister, @khushitavasant, @moonalice, @lukolejnik, @jason_kint, @profcarroll, @khushitavasant, @thezedwards, @khushitavasant, @khushitavasant, @patrickmcgee_, @patrickmcgee_, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @leah_nylen, @leah_nylen, @thezedwards, @leah_nylen, @leah_nylen, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, @jason_kint, and @jason_kint
More:
Thomas Claburn / The Register: Antitrust battle latest: Google, Facebook ‘colluded’ to smash Apple's privacy protections
David McCabe / New York Times: Google said it had successfully ‘slowed down’ European privacy rules, according to lawsuit.
Tweets:
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Thread incoming. AGs lawsuit v Google posted upon orders of court. Simply put, there is A LOT. I previously called Google “screwed” despite redactions but there are more eye poppers. I'm starting with Facebook market rigging allegations. Congrats Sheryl Sandberg on redaction. /1 https://twitter.com/...
Edward Snowden / @snowden: European lawmakers, data regulators, and privacy authorities must recognize that It is time to revise your approach to the internet giants, who have for the entirety of the post-2013 era actively, intentionally sabotaged the process of reform. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_: Facebook and Google allegedly agreed on quotas for how often Facebook would win publishers's auctions — “literally manipulating the auction with minimum spends and quotas for how often Facebook would bid and win,” complaint alleges. https://twitter.com/...
JC Chouinard / @chouinardjc: Facebook and Google colluded! This is actually a very important (and thrilling) read. The collusion confirms most of what we all thought, and more. https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Kwok / @kevinakwok: need to set time aside to read through this. The screenshots from it floating around are...wild And adjacently very interesting peek into how Google's internals work on ad team and amp https://storage.courtlistener.com/ ...
Modest Proposal / @modestproposal1: Just a couple frenemies building a moat 🤝 https://twitter.com/...
@jamiepastore9: The thing about oligopolies is that you always end up with collusion because competition eats into profit margins https://twitter.com/...
@techwontsaveus: “Ahead of a 2019 meeting with other major tech companies, Google said in a memo that it had ‘been successful in slowing down and delaying’ the European Union's ePrivacy Regulation process.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Aaah, this makes more sense as Apple would be the fish out of water at any meeting to undermine privacy rights. Facebook and Google are the only two of the companies who have biz models built off surveillance - collecting more data on other companies' products than their own. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Richard Blumenthal / @senblumenthal: Big Tech seemingly will stop at nothing to make more money by exploiting kids. Violating privacy, deceiving parents, secret meetings, & colluding with competitors to stop protections for kids. It's time for Congress to end this charade. https://www.politico.com/...
Jeff Hauser / @jeffhauser: Not many obvious reasons this is a civil only case, i.e., these emails seem to me to be evidence of criminal violations of Antitrust statutes. https://twitter.com/...
Adrienne Fichter / @adfichter: ‼️Google said in a memo that it had “been successful in slowing down and delaying” the European Union's ePrivacy Regulation process and had been “working behind the scenes hand in hand with the other companies,” according to the filing.‼️ https://www.nytimes.com/...
Fynn-derella / @fynnderella1: G👀gle must be dismantled. They are caught red-handed rigging the entire marketplace. Ma Bell was taken down for MUCH less. Tech giants need to be regulated! #Bernanke #Rigged #exposed #Unredacted https://twitter.com/...
Doug Garnett / @atomicadman: This thread is stunning. Facebook and Google apparently colluding .. including Google guaranteeing win rates for Facebook ad bidding... @acfou @AdContrarian https://twitter.com/...
Doug Saunders / @dougsaunders: Competition is good for consumers and good for industries and good for the planet and good for entire economies, but individual companies hate it and will do absolutely anything to prevent it. Including the very largest companies, it seems https://twitter.com/...
Marie Haynes / @marie_haynes: Oh wow. If you have issues with Google (or Facebook), grab a coffee and read this. It's a long but eye opening thread about collusion and monopolies and even stuff Google tried to redact about AMP🍿 https://twitter.com/...
Dr. Courtney Radsch / @courtneyr: Wow. That a thread from @jason_kint, who slogged through a lawsuit against Google, helpfully highlighting & explaining important parts abt manipulation of ad tech market + impact on publishers @rankingrights @CIMA_Media @MarechalPhD @jeffjarvis @anyaSIPA @CMDSatCEU @Poynter @CJR https://twitter.com/...
Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant: There's more! “@Facebook ‘believed strongly’ that partnering with @Google was ‘relatively cheap compared to build/buy and compete in zero-sum ad tech game’. Facebook did not want to play zero-sum games”, unsealed Texas complaint reveals. #antitrust #adtech https://twitter.com/...
@theregister: The amended US states' antitrust complaint against Google has many allegations: * Google tried to ‘diminish child privacy protections in proposed regulations’ * It colluded with Facebook to bypass Apple's privacy protections * And more https://www.theregister.com/ ...
Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant: In the Google adtech antitrust #case, judge Castel in NY just ruled that most of the complaint filed by a multi-state coalition led by Texas will be made public as it's “a judicial document with a strong presumption of public access”. Including Jedi Blue agreement with @Facebook
Roger McNamee / @moonalice: TX AG's antitrust complaint against Google will be made public. Among other things, complaint alleges price fixing between G and FB in adtech. If DOJ joins or takes the case, price fixing is a federal felony. Standard penalty is 3+ years in prison for executives. Very big deal. https://twitter.com/...
Lukasz Olejnik / @lukolejnik: American lawmakers are immediately concerned with Big Tech policymaking influence operations. So far European policymakers (where this influence has been exerted on a privacy regulation) went surprisingly silent. One may only wonder, why? #eprivacy https://www.politico.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: As you think about way real-time markets work, it's not only about pricing, too. It's about access to that data and even the effects of terms around time guarantees and thresholds. Facebook got longer time, again likely due to its market size and Google wanting to “Kill HB.” /12 https://twitter.com/...
David Carroll / @profcarroll: Adtech is a scam, even among the walled gardens. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant: In the @Google adtech #antitrust complaint *just* made public, the Texas-led lawsuit says this about the @Facebook agreement: “In Google's words, the Jedi program ‘generates suboptimal yields for publishers and serious risks of negative media coverage if exposed externally’”.
@thezedwards: And now we know what Google has been actually doing to slow down ePrivacy.. The unredacted documents between Google & Facebook @ https://storage.courtlistener.com/ ... are outrageous. There are going to dozens of important ad tech, digital privacy stories from all the details we can now see. https://twitter.com/...
Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant: Facebook's support for header bidding posed a severe threat. So, #Google made overtures to #Facebook. “Internal Facebook communications reveal that @Facebook executives fully understood why @Google wanted to cut a deal with them: “they want this deal to kill header bidding.”
Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant: Facebook's header bidding announcement was part of an “18 [month] header bidding strategy”—to draw Google in, as per internal @Facebook communication at the highest level, the unredacted adtech lawsuit reveals.
Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_: Then comes @Facebook. In March 2017 Facebook throws its weight behind header bidding. Big threat. “Facebook communications reveal that Facebook executives fully understood why Google wanted to cut a deal with them: “they want this deal to kill header bidding.” https://twitter.com/...
Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_: Google doesn't want to compete with Facebook. Says it would rather “build a moat” by collaborating instead. Facebook anticipated this in “an 18 month head bidding strategy” — new unredacted detail.
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Here is (just some of) the previously language in the Facebook and Google allegedly illegal market rigging deal. Do you think this drew any red flags for the executives reviewing the deal? /14 https://twitter.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: It also involved providing a bunch of help in identifying users, allegations compare some of the methods to “inside trading” in that Facebook was uniquely win certain terms to block inside info. Congrats, Dan. /10 https://twitter.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: According to these allegations, Google's initial way for this executive to achieve this goal involved just stopping competition, innovation and investment. “forestall major industry investment in FB...” /6 https://t.co/l2wWk3ODQ3
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: It's pretty amazing to see the actual quotes from discovery. For instance the express purpose to “kill HB.” That's short for “header bidding” which was a significant threat to Google's business. /2 https://twitter.com/...
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Header bidding was bad because it allowed publishers to bypass fees which we now learn ranged between 19-22% of revenues. Also, a bit of foreshadowing here in the removed redactions as to why Facebook was a part of the threat. /3 https://twitter.com/...
@leah_nylen: Update to my earlier piece: Apple that no representative from the company attended the Aug 2019 meeting.
@leah_nylen: The two companies reached an agreement nicknamed “Jedi Blue.” Facebook would get “information, speed, and other advantages in the ~43 billion auctions Google runs for publishers' mobile app advertising inventory each month” in exchange for abandoning header bidding.
@thezedwards: “Facebook decided to dangle the threat of competition in Google's face so it could then cut a deal to manipulate publishers' auctions in its favor.” - just released court documents @ https://storage.courtlistener.com/ ...
@leah_nylen: Facebook had suggested publicly that it might adopt header bidding, which led Google to approach the social network about a deal. As Facebook executives described it internally: “they [Google] want this deal to kill header bidding.”
@leah_nylen: In its own internal documents, Google said that “if it could not ‘avoid competing with FAN [Facebook Audience Network],’ then it wanted to collaborate with Facebook to ‘build a moat,’” the states allege
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: A gag order on its lower fees which absolutely impact how auction dynamics work. When I always have called Facebook and Google a duopoly, it was my hope people would understand the two companies were taking most growth and a deal like this plays into it. /11 https://t.co/eXojwWhK5j
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: We hadn't seen Facebook's own internal messages showing it was blatantly obvious why Google wanted this alleged quid pro quo with Facebook so they would exit the market. “They want to kill header bidding.” Yeah, that's clear. /8 https://t.co/y9DaEEaXaM
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: Who would be the biggest target here? Well, Facebook had announced it was entering the market. (note, there are allegations that was done for bait)... we knew this but it's helpful to see the complaint in clear text and what Facebook got in return. /7 https://twitter.com/...
| Sarah Perez / TechCrunch: |
Tweets: @drbarnard, @iansherr, and @appfairness
More:
Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider: Russian developer asks California court for declaratory judgment to prevent Apple from removing its app from the App Store as part of a trademark dispute
Megha Mandavia / The Economic Times: In-app payments: Ball in Google's court after Apple's new App Store policy
Stephen Warwick / iMore: Apple announces App Store changes in wake of Epic Games ruling
Imran Hussain / iThinkDifferent: Apple modifies App Store Review Guidelines for in-app events and more
Nehal Malik / iPhone in Canada Blog: Apple Updates App Store Rules to Let Developers Inform of Other Payment Methods
Paul Thurrott / Thurrott: Apple Implements App Store Changes from U.S. Settlement
Tweets:
David Barnard / @drbarnard: @iansherr Is it a forgone conclusion that the judge is going to approve the settlement November 2nd? I assumed Apple wouldn't finalize any changes like this until the settlement itself was finalized. (Though to be fair, they should do this no matter what happens with the settlement)
Ian Sherr but spooky / @iansherr: @drbarnard Seems apple's decided to go through with the changes regardless