Vox - Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are in crisis mode again following a New York Times exposehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2018-11-19T08:06:52-05:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/178614542018-11-19T08:06:52-05:002018-11-19T08:06:52-05:00From Mark Zuckerberg to George Soros, here’s everything you need to know about Facebook’s latest crisis
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<img alt="Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IFioTDzHPaOwYDbB5n0ys_nNqTE=/151x206:2543x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62356150/944363520.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg | Chip Somodevilla / Getty</figcaption>
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<p>What’s going on? We’ve got you covered. </p> <p id="tzNWRw">The New York Times published an important story last week that explored how Facebook’s top executives, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, have handled the company’s numerous crises over the past two years. </p>
<p id="myb31i">Facebook <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-fired">didn’t come out looking good</a>, and neither did Zuckerberg or Sandberg. The days after the story published included a lot of he-said, she-said, denials and clarifications coming from all sides. </p>
<p id="drVggD">Here’s a recap of what we know and who said what.</p>
<h2 id="zZztdG">Mark Zuckerberg</h2>
<p id="nwdyTf"><strong>What was reported:</strong> The biggest knock on Zuckerberg in the Times story was that he wasn’t involved enough in making some of Facebook’s most important decisions. When Facebook decided <em>not</em> to remove a controversial <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/posts/10156386906600725">post</a> about “preventing Muslim immigration” from then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump for fear of angering Republicans, Zuckerberg passed that decision off to subordinates. </p>
<p id="SaEu6B">When Facebook decided <em>not </em>to name Russia in its first major research paper about how “malicious actors” used Facebook to spread misinformation and sow political discord, Zuckerberg “did not participate in the conversations,” the Times reported. The Times said Zuckerberg and Sandberg were “distracted by personal projects,” and Zuckerberg spent a lot of 2017 <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/25/15421386/follow-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-year-journey-around-united-states">traveling the country</a> on a listening tour, posing for photographs that later appeared on his Facebook page. </p>
<p id="qJIvDg"><strong>How Zuckerberg responded:</strong> The day after the Times’ story ran, Zuckerberg held a conference call with reporters to discuss Facebook’s content moderation efforts, but ended up taking a lot of questions about the story. “We’ve certainly stumbled along the way but to suggest that we weren’t interested in knowing the truth [about Russian election efforts] or that we wanted to hide what we knew, or that we tried to prevent investigations, is simply untrue,” Zuckerberg said. (The Times did not report that anyone tried to “prevent” investigations, but rather that Facebook was slow to unveil what it knew.)</p>
<p id="cfj5uD">Zuckerberg also denied knowing about Facebook’s relationship with Definers, a DC-based PR shop known for opposition research, and defended his position as CEO and chairman of Facebook’s board. He just wants more time to fix things. “I don’t think that me or anyone else could come in and snap our fingers and have these issues resolved in a quarter or half a year,” he added. </p>
<p id="JZ2gJH"><strong>What happens next?</strong> It’s possible Congress might try and summon Zuckerberg back to D.C. to testify again about Facebook’s role in the 2016 election. It seems highly unlikely, though, that Zuckerberg’s role at Facebook will change. Not only does he have voting control over the board, and therefore his job, but <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18097316/facebook-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-board-statement-support-new-york-times-story">Facebook’s board also issued a statement of support</a> on Thursday backing Facebook leadership. </p>
<p id="N2Tx88">Regardless, Zuckerberg’s (now frequent) apologies and missteps are getting old. At the very least, it’s tough to find a great argument for why people should continue to trust the company. “I still cannot stand the ability of people to pretend that this is not all Mark Zuckerberg’s responsibility,” said <strong>Recode’s</strong> Kara Swisher on the <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/16/18098008/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-new-york-times-kara-swisher-scott-galloway-pivot-podcast">latest episode of Pivot</a>, <strong>Recode’s</strong> new podcast. “He’s an adult, and they’re treating him like this sort of adult boy king who doesn’t know what’s going on. It’s ridiculous. He knows exactly what’s going on.”</p>
<h2 id="SKO7M4">Sheryl Sandberg</h2>
<p id="YxD18N"><strong>What was reported: </strong>As I’ve now <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-fired">written a few times</a>, Sandberg came out looking the worst of all Facebook’s executives from the New York Times investigation. The most damning issue with Sandberg was more implied than it was explicitly spelled out: It seemed as though she was a constant critic of Facebook’s efforts to investigate Russian election interference. </p>
<p id="FmwXqb">Sandberg was reportedly upset that Facebook’s security team was looking into Russian meddling without permission, and then got upset again when company executives in charge of that investigation gave too much info to Facebook’s board of directors. Sandberg also agreed that Facebook shouldn’t name Russia in its first big white paper about Russian propaganda, instead citing unspecified “malicious actors.” Sandberg was afraid naming Russia might anger Republicans, according to the Times. </p>
<p id="DGVTLt"><strong>How Sandberg responded: </strong>Sandberg <a href="https://www.facebook.com/717545176/posts/10160967443525177/">posted to her Facebook page</a> Thursday echoing Zuckerberg’s statements that Facebook never tried to hide info or prevent an investigation into Russian meddling. (A quick aside: When a big, powerful company really believes a publication got the story wrong, it asks for a retraction, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-bloomberg/apple-ceo-urges-bloomberg-to-retract-spy-chip-story-idUSKCN1MT2Z8">like Apple did with a recent Bloomberg investigation</a>.)</p>
<p id="D7uxun">Sandberg also denied knowing that Facebook had hired Definers. “I did not know we hired them or about the work they were doing, but I should have,” she said. </p>
<p id="lKLCtV"><strong>What happens next? </strong>Sandberg’s job seems safe — at least for now. “Sheryl is doing great work for the company. She’s been a very important partner to me, and continues to be, and will continue to be,” Zuckerberg told reporters last week. </p>
<p id="MsC4g2">One interesting element here is whether or not Sandberg’s last few years at Facebook will come back to haunt her if she ever tried to get back into politics. It is widely believed that Sandberg, who used to work at the Treasury Department, will go back to D.C. someday. Will her role overseeing Facebook policy and Facebook’s targeted advertising business during years of crisis impact those plans? </p>
<h2 id="0kt6ul">Definers</h2>
<p id="EJrEqN"><strong>What was reported: </strong>Facebook hired Definers, a D.C.-based public relations firm that “specialized in applying political campaign tactics to corporate public relations,” according to the Times — essentially, opposition research. Definers also worked closely with a conservative news organization called NTK, and the two organizations “share offices and staff,” the Times reported. </p>
<p id="JI7OYc">While Facebook was working with Definers, NTK published stories critical of some of Facebook’s biggest competitors, including Apple and its CEO Tim Cook, <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/3/28/17172212/apple-facebook-revolution-tim-cook-interview-privacy-data-mark-zuckerberg">who has been critical of Facebook’s data policies</a>. The Times also found that Definers reached out to reporters to share research about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/04/19/once-deemed-unsafe-by-facebook-diamond-and-silk-are-now-coming-to-capitol-hill/">Diamond and Silk</a>, conservative media personalities who have complained that Facebook restricts their free speech, and to suggest that George Soros, the wealthy Democratic donor who is often attacked by members of the far right, was bankrolling anti-Facebook protestors. </p>
<p id="mJzpVs"><strong>How Definers responded:</strong> Definers and NTK have both <a href="https://definersdc.com/our-work-with-facebook/">issued statements</a> denying any kind of shady behavior. “To be clear: Definers was not hired by Facebook as an opposition research firm,” the PR firm wrote on its website. Definers claims that the vast majority of its work with Facebook involved monitoring press coverage for the company and helping manage policy announcements. “A fraction of our work with Facebook included providing research and background information about critics — both on the left and the right,” the firm claims. <a href="https://ntknetwork.com/about-ntk-network/">NTK denied</a> working with Facebook at all.</p>
<p id="mRAMp1"><strong>What happens next? </strong>It’s hard to believe that Definers and NTK weren’t working together. Not only were they sharing an office, but the <a href="https://ntknetwork.com/about-us/">editor in chief</a> listed on NTK’s website is a man named Joe Pounder. Not coincidentally, he is also listed as an employee on Definers’ website — <a href="https://definersdc.com/team/joe-pounder/">Pounder is Definers’ president</a>. (“Joe Pounder works with that firm, but Pounder has many separate projects,” NTK claimed.) </p>
<p id="yV1Q5q">Facebook ended its relationship with Definers shortly after the New York Times story went live. Both Zuckerberg and Sandberg claimed they had no idea that Facebook was even working with Definers until the Times piece ran. So who hired Definers? Zuckerberg said it was someone on Facebook’s communications team. </p>
<p id="fxrVP4">The top communications official at the time was Elliot Schrage, who has since <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/6/14/17462904/facebook-policy-comms-head-elliot-schrage-leaving">announced he is leaving the company</a>. The biggest issue here is that Zuckerberg and Sandberg — primarily Sandberg, who has been much more active in overseeing Facebook’s policy strategy — were supposedly unaware of what the communications team was doing. That looks terrible. </p>
<h2 id="Jtldsp">Alex Stamos</h2>
<p id="m9rg8Z"><strong>What was reported: </strong>Stamos was Facebook’s chief security officer, and led the team that <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/10/3/16379724/facebook-alex-stamos-russia-ads-election-donald-trump">investigated Russian interference efforts</a> before and after the 2016 election. He started looking into Russian activity on Facebook in early 2016, before Facebook’s top executives were fully aware of the problem, and was responsible for briefing Facebook’s board of directors on his efforts. His report to the board was more thorough than Sandberg would have liked, and she got angry at Stamos for over-sharing, according to the Times. Stamos was a proponent internally of sharing more info with the public earlier on than Facebook ultimately did. </p>
<p id="kRe9pM"><strong>How Stamos responded: </strong>Stamos has been everywhere since the story ran. He’s been tweeting about the story over the past few days. He wrote an op-ed for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/yes-facebook-made-mistakes-in-2016-but-we-werent-the-only-ones/2018/11/17/3b62b422-ea9d-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.63f856f52746">the Washington Post</a> on Saturday confirming significant parts of the story. He also appeared on <strong>Recode</strong> and MSNBC’s TV show “Revolution” Sunday night. </p>
<p id="hlM21X">Stamos is adamant that Facebook executives never stood in the way as he investigated Russian meddling, but admits there were disagreements about how much to reveal and when. He also said Sunday that Facebook’s growth team, the group responsible for adding new users and a team with a lot of power internally at Facebook, “are most responsible for a lot of the issues Facebook is facing.”</p>
<p id="qypz4Z">Stamos also defended Sandberg, who yelled at him following his detailed board presentation, and who leads a policy and communications team that is clearly more ruthless in Washington, D.C., than many realized. </p>
<p id="NnNabV">“If it seems like Sheryl is careful about her public persona, perhaps it’s because she is required to put her iron fist in a velvet glove in a way never demanded of powerful men,” <a href="https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/1063906814603882496">Stamos tweeted</a> about <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/silicon-valley-many-have-long-known-sheryl-sandberg-isnt-a-saint">criticism of Sandberg</a>. “Judge her actions, not how she fits into your notions of female leadership.”</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Facebook encountered an unprecedented situation in 2016-2017. As I have said before, I was never told by Mark, Sheryl or any other executives not to investigate. <a href="https://t.co/oFvn4eC3x7">https://t.co/oFvn4eC3x7</a></p>— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/1063115969902579714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2018</a>
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<p id="QZgNjB"><strong>What happens next: </strong>Stamos is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/01/technology/facebook-security-alex-stamos.html">no longer at Facebook</a>, but is still a prominent voice on tech and cybersecurity more broadly. This is certainly not the last we’ll hear from him. As the lead Facebook exec investigating this kind of activity from Russia, and a central figure in this Times story, it’s possible Stamos could also be asked to answer questions from Congress or other government agencies at some point in the future. </p>
<h2 id="tXjb6M">George Soros</h2>
<p id="r8fvFr"><strong>What was reported: </strong>As explained above, the Definers firm that Facebook hired told reporters to look into the financial ties between Soros and anti-Facebook protestors. </p>
<p id="TtbEAE"><strong>How Soros responded: </strong>The president of Soros’s foundation <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/george-soros-foundations-chastise-facebook-in-response-to-times-story.html">wrote a letter to Sandberg</a> criticizing Facebook’s media approach and requesting a meeting.<strong> </strong>“As you know, there is a concerted right-wing effort the world over to demonize Mr. Soros and his foundations, which I lead — an effort which has contributed to death threats and the delivery of a pipe bomb to Mr. Soros’ home,” the letter reads. </p>
<p id="hpPprm"><strong>What happens next: </strong>Maybe Soros and Sandberg will meet. </p>
<h2 id="sCYHcd">Congress</h2>
<p id="MNDheA"><strong>What was reported: </strong>A number of politicians appear in the New York Times story. It was reported that Sandberg lobbied Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar — who was behind legislation to increase political advertising restrictions on Facebook — to back off from posting criticism about the company. Another Senator, New York’s Chuck Schumer, reportedly lobbied Virginia’s Mark Warner, one of Facebook’s most vocal critics and another sponsor alongside Klobuchar of the ad restrictions bill, to back off from criticizing Facebook as well. Schumer has raised a lot of money from Facebook employees, and has a daughter who works at the company, according to the Times. </p>
<p id="f15tUo"><strong>How Congress responded: </strong>It was about how you’d expect: <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18097064/facebook-political-reaction-new-york-times-capitol-hill">Everyone had something to say</a>. Klobuchar, along with other Senators, <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18097064/facebook-political-reaction-new-york-times-capitol-hill">called on the Department of Justice</a> to investigate Facebook. Schumer claimed that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/politics/facebook-schumer-russia-warner/index.html">he is indeed tough on Facebook</a>. And Warner took a victory lap for the Senate Intelligence Committee, of which he is Vice Chairman. “The New York Times story reinforces the fact that, but for consistent pressure brought to bear by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan investigation, we would still be in the dark about the extent of Russian activity on Facebook during the 2016 election,” he said. </p>
<p id="vnALvh"><strong>What happens next: </strong>The story provides even more fuel to those who believe Facebook should be regulated. It seems possible, maybe even likely, that Facebook executives will be called to Washington once again to testify before Congress and answer more questions. It’s clear that nobody is happy with Facebook right now. </p>
<aside id="zOorDO"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"recode_daily"}'></div></aside><p><small><em>This article originally appeared on Recode.net.</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/19/18099241/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-new-york-times-george-soros-explainedKurt Wagner2018-11-15T16:15:12-05:002018-11-15T16:15:12-05:00Facebook’s board is throwing public support behind Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg — who are on Facebook’s board
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<img alt="Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, VP Dan Rose and COO Sheryl Sandberg" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xuyL77w8YrmJFAnId-QVP32CzDc=/0x0:3213x2410/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62338041/997239536.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, VP Dan Rose and COO Sheryl Sandberg | Drew Angerer / Getty</figcaption>
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<p>Also: Zuckerberg gave Sandberg his personal vote of confidence following a damning New York Times story published Wednesday. </p> <p id="gqwqHQ">Facebook is circling the wagons as the company looks to do damage control following a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes">damning New York Times story</a> published Wednesday that called into question decisions made by Facebook leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, over the past two years. </p>
<p id="JQQVWK">Among the claims in the story: That Facebook knew Russia was using the service to try and influence the 2016 election much earlier than it publicly announced. The story also revealed that Facebook hired an opposition research firm to “discredit activist protesters” and link them to Democratic financier George Soros, something Zuckerberg claimed on Thursday that <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtWagner8/status/1063153052809539584">he knew nothing about</a>. </p>
<p id="w9NzVh">That story got us asking: <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-fired">Who from Facebook might be fired for the company’s missteps?</a></p>
<p id="0qveKf">Whoever it is, it doesn’t look like it’ll be Zuckerberg or Sandberg. At least not right now. </p>
<p id="PiEwix">Facebook’s board of directors issued a public statement defending the company’s efforts in fighting Russian election meddling efforts following the 2016 presidential election. It also called the story “grossly unfair.” Here’s the full statement.</p>
<blockquote><p id="dVFOEQ">“As Mark and Sheryl made clear to Congress, the company was too slow to spot Russian interference, and too slow to take action. As a board we did indeed push them to move faster. But to suggest that they knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened is grossly unfair. In the last eighteen months Facebook, with the full support of this board, has invested heavily in more people and better technology to prevent misuse of its services, including during elections. As the U.S. mid-term showed, they have made considerable progress and we support their continued to efforts to fight abuse and improve security.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="TdaqHO">The irony, of course, is that Zuckerberg and Sandberg are both on Facebook’s board. Given the statement isn’t attributable to any one board member, it looks like Facebook’s executives are throwing public support behind ... themselves. </p>
<p id="3KIxrH">On a conference call with reporters that lasted well over an hour Thursday morning, Zuckerberg also sidestepped multiple questions asking him whether someone at Facebook should be fired for the company’s strategic moves over the past few years. </p>
<p id="ctkQYN">“In terms of performance and personnel management, I just generally don’t talk about that — specific cases of that in public,” Zuckerberg said. “It’s not that we run the company and people make mistakes and there’s no consequences.”</p>
<p id="Wy5U6I">Zuckerberg also gave a strong showing of support for Sandberg, who came out looking the worst of all Facebook’s executives from the New York Times investigation. </p>
<p id="4n7gyJ">Not only did Sandberg make some questionable decisions about when and how to disclose Russian meddling efforts, but a lot of the other executives mentioned making questionable decisions were Sandberg’s direct reports. </p>
<p id="y0jwzK">“Sheryl is doing great work for the company. She’s been a very important partner to me, and continues to be, and will continue to be,” Zuckerberg said. “She’s leading a lot of the efforts to improve our systems in these areas, and as I’ve tried to convey, while these are big issues, I think we’re making a lot of progress and a lot of that is because of the work that she’s doing.”</p>
<p id="OpyCCu">It does not look like Zuckerberg will be giving up his own role as CEO, or as Facebook’s chairman, anytime soon. </p>
<p id="7EGix1">When asked about the chairman role, Zuckerberg said he didn’t think changing his role on the board was “the right way to go.” When asked why he was still the best person to run Facebook, Zuckerberg said that he has Facebook on the right path to improvement — he just needs more time. </p>
<p id="Sykx72">“I don’t think that me or anyone else could come in and snap our fingers and have these issues resolved in a quarter or half a year,” he said. “This stuff is painful ... but to some degree, you have to know that you’re on the path and that you’re doing the right things and then allow for some time for the teams to actually execute and get the stuff working the way that we all know it that it needs to be, and to the standard that people expect.”</p>
<aside id="XIqk80"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"recode_daily"}'></div></aside><p><small><em>This article originally appeared on Recode.net.</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/15/18097316/facebook-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-board-statement-support-new-york-times-storyKurt Wagner2018-11-15T14:31:40-05:002018-11-15T14:31:40-05:00Washington pummels Facebook: ‘Big tech can no longer be trusted’
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<img alt="Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zWdT_apT8vo1m4LpoNQc7qUrQqc=/729x0:6558x4372/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62337276/1027118604.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg | Drew Angerer / Getty</figcaption>
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<p>One senator says the company “actually encouraged anti-Semitism” by hiring an opposition-research firm.</p> <p id="AtaAf9">Facebook is, once again, a political piñata.</p>
<p id="jhOOuk">In the aftermath of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html">New York Times story</a> that meticulously revealed Facebook’s cloddish response to the disinformation and hacking campaigns around the 2016 election, the company is battling renewed criticism from Washington, D.C. </p>
<aside id="JxzUNt"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Who does Facebook fire after a bombshell New York Times investigation?","url":"https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-fired"}]}'></div></aside><p id="pzYCE5">It’s not like Facebook has had much of a break — though after both Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg testified extensively before Congress, you might think that the company’s brass had lowered the temperature from its Washington critics. But as the company’s internal deliberations become public, it’s getting harder for Facebook to present the “everything is fine” messaging on Capitol Hill.</p>
<p id="OfPSoX">The toughest pummeling came from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who said the story was a “chilling reminder that big tech can no longer be trusted.”</p>
<p id="DdfoBF">“Yesterday, we learned that when Mark Zuckerberg told the American people that Russian interference was a ‘pretty crazy idea,’ he knew this was flatly untrue,” Blumenthal said. “Rather than take responsibility for a profound breach of trust, Facebook executives for months sought to withhold significant information and deflect criticism. Worse, in its evasion, Facebook hired toxic political operators that sought to mislead the public and disparage critics of the company.”</p>
<p id="cP1rwN">Mark Warner, a loud Facebook critic as the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, took a little victory lap on Thursday, saying that his committee’s work is to thank for exposing Facebook’s problems in the first place.</p>
<p id="WCZWCs">“The New York Times story reinforces the fact that, but for consistent pressure brought to bear by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan investigation, we would still be in the dark about the extent of Russian activity on Facebook during the 2016 election,” Warner said. “I’m happy to say that the cooperation has improved significantly, but what’s evident from the story is that for a long period of months, the company hoped this problem would simply just go away.”</p>
<p id="yLpCC0">Ben Sasse, a Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, interrogated Zuckerberg during his Capitol Hill visit. Here’s how Sasse reacted to the Times story:</p>
<blockquote><p id="ZnBoLW">“Instead of turning this into another lazy debate about the left, the right, and the 2016 election, Silicon Valley and Washington should be working to combat the very real threat that information operations can pour gasoline on nearly every culture war that divides the American people,” Sasse said. “Facebook needs to stop treating this like a PR crisis and Washington needs to stop treating this like a partisan opportunity — this is a real national security threat.” </p></blockquote>
<p id="1pCxMG">Several Senate Democrats appear to have in their crosshairs an opposition-research company, Definers Public Affairs, that Facebook reportedly hired to spread dirt on its competitors. Warner’s colleague on the committee, Amy Klobuchar, led a group of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/15/18096868/facebook-report-klobuchar-senate-congress-definers-campaign-finance">Democrats who sent a letter to the Department of Justice</a> to see if Facebook broke any campaign-finance rules with this arrangement, among other requests.</p>
<p id="A0KlMH">“We write to urge that you expand any investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica to include whether Facebook — or any other entity affiliated with or hired by Facebook — retaliated against critics or public officials seeking to regulate the platform, or hid vital information from the public,” wrote Klobuchar alongside Blumenthal, Sen. Mazie Hirono and Sen. Chris Coons.</p>
<p id="tWbFIE">The Times reported that Definers tried to cast the criticism of the company as pushed by George Soros, a prominent Jewish, liberal philanthropist. <a href="https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1063138273768423424">Senate Democrat Ron Wyden keyed in on that part, and was harsh.</a></p>
<p id="lRaU37">“Individuals that promote anti-Semitic bile, like Definers, and the people at Facebook who hired them, threaten not just our safety, but our democracy,” Wyden tweeted. “Facebook has not only refused to effectively crack down on hate-spewing Nazis, the New York Times revealed it actually encouraged anti-Semitism by hiring degenerate right-wing propagandists to concoct conspiracies that tap into anti-Semitic biases.”</p>
<p id="lntbK4">So what happens now? </p>
<p id="ey85X1">Wyden is calling for the Senate to adopt new privacy rules that he has pushed after saying: “A corporation that stoops this low in response to legitimate criticism should not be trusted with your personal information.”</p>
<p id="2U5JJt">And Scott Stringer, the comptroller of New York City, reiterated his call for Zuckerberg to step down as the chairman of Facebook’s board of directors: “Renegade executives who are focused only on growth regardless of the risks — and withhold information from the board — put their company, shareholders, and in Facebook’s case, our democracy in jeopardy.”</p>
<p id="36z8ln">But don’t expect that to happen. If history is any guide, Facebook will keep plowing ahead, Washington will keep slapping it around, and few of the fundamentals will change.</p>
<aside id="wpPDN4"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"recode_daily"}'></div></aside><p id="uhFXyT"></p>
<p><small><em>This article originally appeared on Recode.net.</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/15/18097064/facebook-political-reaction-new-york-times-capitol-hillTheodore Schleifer2018-11-15T13:43:19-05:002018-11-15T13:43:19-05:00Facebook’s top lawyer — who said he was leaving the company — isn’t leaving after all, because Facebook is still in crisis
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<img alt="Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ERLe7ynh0ql6e8sadTW7S4m_Rdw=/333x0:3000x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62336890/868706348.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch | Chip Somodevilla / Getty</figcaption>
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<p>General Counsel Colin Stretch said in July that he was leaving. Now he’s staying into 2019. </p> <p id="nOekge">Facebook’s top lawyer, General Counsel Colin Stretch, announced back in July that he was <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/7/24/17605902/facebook-colin-stretch-lawyer-leaving-investigation-ftc-russia">leaving the company</a> at the end of the year. That’s no longer happening. </p>
<p id="izKT8U">Stretch has decided to stay at Facebook, given that the company is still dealing with a number of legal and political crises, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/technology/facebook-federal-investigations.html">multiple federal investigations</a> into Facebook’s data and privacy practices that started earlier this year.</p>
<p id="GJBnDA">More political scrutiny could be on the way following <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html">Wednesday’s bombshell New York Times story</a> about Facebook’s efforts to lobby politicians and discredit opponents in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. </p>
<p id="Kp2RDt">Stretch told his team about his decision to stay a few weeks ago, according to a source, and he is expected to stay on at least until next summer, though it could be longer. </p>
<p id="BOWLBm">Basically, Facebook’s problems are still big enough, even after the 2018 midterms are over, that Stretch decided he could no longer leave. A company spokesperson declined to comment. </p>
<p id="9ng180">Company lawyers don’t usually make a lot of headlines, but Stretch has been more visible than most given Facebook’s issues over the past two years. He testified before two Senate committees and a House committee to discuss Russian election interference efforts last fall, and <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/10/31/16562342/facebook-russia-congress-google-twitter-lawyers-ads">oversaw much of Facebook’s investigation</a> into Russian election meddling efforts. </p>
<p id="TFgTnT">Stretch was named in yesterday’s New York Times story as one of the few Facebook executives who knew that Russian hackers were using the service ahead of the election well before it was announced publicly — or even presented to Facebook’s board of directors. It’s unclear whether or not Stretch’s decision to stay had anything to do with that report. </p>
<p id="VOPG6V">It’s also too soon to know <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-fired">what the fallout will be</a> from that story, but it’s certainly possible that Stretch, or his bosses CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, may be asked back to answer more questions before Congress. </p>
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<p><small><em>This article originally appeared on Recode.net.</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/15/18097027/facebook-colin-stretch-leaving-decision-change-legal-lawyerKurt Wagner2018-11-15T00:43:37-05:002018-11-15T00:43:37-05:00Who does Facebook fire after a bombshell New York Times investigation?
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<img alt="Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg celebrates her eight-year anniversary with CEO Mark Zuckerberg." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ua70SjZpbqDm3vqj93TZ1RufKHM=/96x0:1952x1392/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62333707/1501004_10102735447188701_3564213044128150137_o.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg celebrates her eight-year anniversary with CEO Mark Zuckerberg. | Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook</figcaption>
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<p>The news leader published a damning story about the social media giant’s handling of recent scandals, so who gets the blame? If anyone. </p> <p id="l3gNEz">The New York Times published a bombshell report Wednesday: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage">An in-depth account</a> of Facebook’s repeated struggles over the past two years to clean up mess after mess, from Russian election interference to privacy breaches and data leaks. </p>
<p id="IlhE0B">The story leaves one wondering: Will someone be fired for Facebook’s role in all of this? And if so, who? And, if not, why not?</p>
<p id="nJ5xlJ">That’s because it includes a number of bizarre details, like that Facebook “employed a Republican opposition-research firm to discredit activist protesters, in part by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros.” Or that Facebook was guilty of “lobbying a Jewish civil rights group to cast some criticism of the company as anti-Semitic.”</p>
<p id="kTIaB2">Those are odd enough, but more damning is the focus on poor decision-making of Facebook’s top two executives, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. They both are depicted in the piece as underestimating or misjudging the company’s problems at every turn, and perhaps even actively ignoring them. </p>
<p id="fwL9rC">In Zuckerberg’s case, the Times reported that he, at least early on, wasn’t very involved in the important conversations around Facebook’s response to Russia’s election meddling efforts. When Facebook first published an admission that a foreign government had used the site to sow discord ahead of the election, but declined to name Russia for fear of angering Republican lawmakers, Zuckerberg “did not participate in the conversations.” </p>
<p id="iqFDe3">And when top Facebook executives debated whether or not President Trump violated the company’s terms of service ahead of the 2016 election, Zuckerberg “did not participate in the debate.” </p>
<p id="OeRmSJ">“At critical moments over the last three years, [Zuckerberg and Sandberg] were distracted by personal projects, and passed off security and policy decisions to subordinates,” the Times wrote. In 2017, Zuckerberg spent a good portion of the year <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/25/15421386/follow-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-ceo-year-journey-around-united-states">traveling around the country on a listening tour</a>, posing for photos on tractors and in ice cream shops. </p>
<p id="cunjRE">Sandberg was more involved, but primarily behind the scenes. She oversaw the team responsible for Facebook’s response to almost all of these issues, including head of public policy Joel Kaplan and head of communications and policy Elliot Schrage. The story claims that Sandberg was angry when she first learned executives were digging into Russian election meddling without permission in early 2016, and was later an advocate internally for keeping critical information about that investigation out of the public eye. </p>
<p id="Zw8oAb">That included a decision in early 2017 to exclude a very important detail from a report the company published: That it was Russia who had used the service to try and influence voters ahead of the election. Sandberg and Kaplan were reportedly afraid naming the Russians might anger Republican politicians. </p>
<p id="gwuAst">This section of the story about the company’s <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/4/28/15476142/facebook-report-trump-clinton-russia-us-presidential-election">decision <em>not</em> to name Russia in its first public white paper</a> about the incident summarizes how both executives came across more broadly throughout the piece:</p>
<blockquote><p id="iY2NQS">If Facebook implicated Russia further, Mr. Kaplan said, Republicans would accuse the company of siding with Democrats. And if Facebook pulled down the Russians’ fake pages, regular Facebook users might also react with outrage at having been deceived: His own mother-in-law, Mr. Kaplan said, had followed a Facebook page created by Russian trolls.<br><br>Ms. Sandberg sided with Mr. Kaplan, recalled four people involved. Mr. Zuckerberg — who spent much of 2017 on a national “listening tour,” feeding cows in Wisconsin and eating dinner with Somali refugees in Minnesota — did not participate in the conversations about the public paper. When <a href="https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/facebook-and-information-operations-v1.pdf">it was published</a> that April, the word “Russia” never appeared. </p></blockquote>
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<p id="Fo2fkx">So does anyone pay for these serious missteps?</p>
<p id="gVerr7">Zuckerberg has been asked that question a lot over the past year, but Facebook rarely seems to fire anybody, even when there are clear and significant screwups. </p>
<p id="yVMCCd">After Facebook’s <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/3/17/17134072/facebook-cambridge-analytica-trump-explained-user-data">Cambridge Analytica data disaster</a> became public in March, Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/4/5/17200918/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-data-privacy">said that it was “my mistake.”</a> A few months later, after Zuckerberg had to testify before Congress about the same issue, <strong>Recode’s</strong> Kara Swisher asked him again who should be fired. </p>
<p id="v5kiJo">“I think it’s a big issue, but look, I designed the platform, so if someone’s going to be fired for this, it should be me,” he <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/7/18/17585918/facebook-cambridge-analytica-mark-zuckerberg-responsibility-fired">said at the time</a>. </p>
<p id="xAsIYw">The reality, of course, is that Zuckerberg will likely never be fired. He controls 60 percent of the voting power at Facebook, and he isn’t going to fire himself. </p>
<p id="VroDca">What about Sandberg? Of all the executives listed in the Times’ story, Sandberg came out looking the worst. Not only were some of her decisions cringe-worthy, like her repeated efforts to keep details of Facebook’s Russia investigation under wraps, but her very commitment to the company was called into question. </p>
<p id="mYDVSA">“Some colleagues believed that Ms. Sandberg — whose ambitions to return to public life were much discussed at the company — was protecting her own brand at Facebook’s expense,” the Times reported. </p>
<p id="zdLI9b">It’s also hard to miss the fact that many other named executives from the Times’ story are no longer at the company, and almost all of them came from Sandberg’s side of the business. <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/6/14/17462904/facebook-policy-comms-head-elliot-schrage-leaving">Schrage is out</a>; General Counsel <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/7/24/17605902/facebook-colin-stretch-lawyer-leaving-investigation-ftc-russia">Colin Stretch is leaving</a>; Chief Security Officer <a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/3/19/17141012/facebook-alex-stamos-departs-russia-fake-news">Alex Stamos is gone</a>. While it seems unlikely that Sandberg — a Facebook board member and the executive who built and still runs Facebook’s entire business — will actually be fired, The <a href="https://www.getrevue.co/profile/caseynewton/issues/facebook-fights-dirty-145113?utm_campaign=Issue&utm_content=view_in_browser&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The+Interface">Verge’s Casey Newton</a> summed it up well: “The long knives have come for Sheryl Sandberg.”</p>
<p id="zDsuWU">The only other prominent player left from this saga is Kaplan. Perhaps he’ll leave soon, too. Kaplan, described in the story as a “well-connected Republican,” was seen throughout the story advising Facebook’s top executives to make decisions to avoid Republican backlash. (Ultimately, Republicans have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/07/17/republicans-accused-facebook-google-twitter-bias-democrats-called-hearing-dumb/?utm_term=.fa321cb74808">found other ways to attack Facebook</a> anyway.) </p>
<p id="Pq1v9Y">Not only do Kaplan’s decisions to downplay the Russian misinformation efforts look bad, but this is the same Kaplan who made the very bad decision to appear unexpectedly in the hearing room behind his friend Judge Brett Kavanaugh last month, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/technology/facebook-kavanaugh-nomination-kaplan.html">creating a firestorm internally</a> from angry Facebook employees. </p>
<p id="2WydKH">The truth, though, is that the issues outlined in this story came from the top. Whether it was poor decision-making or an absence of decision-making, Facebook’s problems ultimately trace back to just two people: Zuckerberg and Sandberg. </p>
<aside id="zQo1UG"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"recode_daily"}'></div></aside><p><small><em>This article originally appeared on Recode.net.</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/11/15/18095967/facebook-new-york-times-story-mark-zuckerberg-sheryl-sandberg-firedKurt Wagner