16 votes

Delay, deny and deflect: How Facebook’s leaders fought through crisis

7 comments

  1. [2]
    Neverland
    (edited )
    Link
    Outline This is beyond the pale. Zuckerberg and Sandberg are just plain evil. I often wonder what will happen with companies like Google when their founders die and truly amoral Wall Street folks...

    Outline

    While Mr. Zuckerberg conducted a public apology tour in the last year, Ms. Sandberg has overseen an aggressive lobbying campaign to combat Facebook’s critics, shift public anger toward rival companies and ward off damaging regulation. Facebook employed a Republican opposition-research firm to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros. It also tapped its business relationships, persuading a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as anti-Semitic.

    This is beyond the pale. Zuckerberg and Sandberg are just plain evil. I often wonder what will happen with companies like Google when their founders die and truly amoral Wall Street folks take over all of that influence and data, but with FB, I don’t know how much worse it could get.

    7 votes
    1. neu
      Link Parent
      This really highlighted Zuckerbergs pettiness for me. Im not sure how many people are on his management team, but it just seems so childish because that's obviously not going to have any effect on...

      “We’re not going to traffic in your personal life,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in an MSNBC interview. “Privacy to us is a human right. It’s a civil liberty.” (Mr. Cook’s criticisms infuriated Mr. Zuckerberg, who later ordered his management team to use only Android phones, since the operating system has far more users than Apple’s.)

      This really highlighted Zuckerbergs pettiness for me. Im not sure how many people are on his management team, but it just seems so childish because that's obviously not going to have any effect on Apple.

      7 votes
  2. Neverland
    Link
    I was very disappointed when this thorough story came out as it was on the bottom of NYTimes.com’s front page. I figured it was timed to somehow minimize damage. However, today it is at the top of...

    I was very disappointed when this thorough story came out as it was on the bottom of NYTimes.com’s front page. I figured it was timed to somehow minimize damage. However, today it is at the top of the front page! I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen that happen to a story before, but I am very happy to see it.

    Also, here is a Guardian piece with a bit more info on the Soros smear tactics used by FB in this matter: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/14/facebook-george-soros-pr-firm-discredit-critics-crisis

    5 votes
  3. [4]
    Neverland
    Link
    Here is FB’s official response to the article: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/11/new-york-times-update/

    Here is FB’s official response to the article:
    https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/11/new-york-times-update/

    1 vote
    1. annadane
      Link Parent
      I just want more control over the feed - I don't want my friend's posts hidden due to some algorithm, I don't want to see things they never intended to share ("liked", "commented on")... they...

      I just want more control over the feed - I don't want my friend's posts hidden due to some algorithm, I don't want to see things they never intended to share ("liked", "commented on")... they claim to be in touch with the community, it would go a long way if they just made the whole thing, well, suck less...

      1 vote
    2. [2]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      Mark Zuckerberg had some further responses to questions on a call today as well: https://www.axios.com/zuckerberg-responds-to-nyt-1542309202-ec76e24f-5cc8-4f2c-9f71-2f1507327c79.html

      Mark Zuckerberg had some further responses to questions on a call today as well: https://www.axios.com/zuckerberg-responds-to-nyt-1542309202-ec76e24f-5cc8-4f2c-9f71-2f1507327c79.html

      1 vote
      1. Neverland
        Link Parent
        Thanks for posting that. I need to read axios a bit more. Personal opinion : This is such deflection, what did he think this firm would do? If they performed outside of the prescribed envelope,...

        Thanks for posting that. I need to read axios a bit more.

        Personal opinion :

        He denied Facebook instructed the outside research firm to spread misinformation. Asked if the opposition research firm’s actions were comparable to the kind of "coordinated inauthentic behavior" that Facebook is trying to eradicate, Zuckerberg said, “that isn’t true... We certainly never asked them to spread anything that's not true and we don't have any detail now that would suggest that they have.

        This is such deflection, what did he think this firm would do? If they performed outside of the prescribed envelope, and thereby helped ruin FB’s reputation, shouldn’t FB be suing Definers Public Affairs?

        He and Sheryl knew exactly what they hired them for.

        3 votes