Facebook leaders overlooked cautions, deflected blame as scandals installed, report states

From Russian election meddling to a enormous information personal privacy scandal, Facebook has actually dealt with a relatively limitless list of difficulties. Now a brand-new report recommends the social media’s management might be amongst its most significant obstacles.

Over the previous 3 years, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg overlooked cautions, deflected blame and were sidetracked by other jobs as the social media stumbled from crisis to crisis, according to a 5,000- word report Wednesday by The New YorkTimes The paper, which spoke with more than 50 individuals for the story, painted an uncomplimentary picture of how the 2 executives handled the series of scandals, a few of which ultimately triggered Congress to ask both of them to affirm.

The piece concentrated on Facebook’s handling of phony news published by Russian giants ahead of the 2016 governmental election, the effect of which Zuckerberg at first dismissed as “crazy,” and the business’s efforts to deflect blame after the information of 87 million users was collected by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica The story likewise discussed in-fighting at the greatest of levels of the business.

“Bent on growth, the pair ignored warning signs and then sought to conceal them from public view,” The Times composed. “At critical moments over the last three years, they were distracted by personal projects, and passed off security and policy decisions to subordinates, according to current and former executives.”

On Thursday, Facebook pressed back harder versus the Times story, arguing that it includes “a number of inaccuracies.” In a more than 600- word article, it looked for to counter assertions by the paper about how it handled Russian activity, phony news and a group called Definers Public Affairs, to name a few subjects, and indicated its efforts considering that 2016 to enhance the security and security of its services.

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At one point, according to the Times, Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs, a Republican opposition research firm, to fend off critics. The firm tried to link anti-Facebook sentiment to billionaire George Soros by circulating a research document and pressing reporters to look at financial ties between Soros and groups that protested the tech company at congressional hearings in July.

After the Cambridge Analytica scandal renewed public criticism of Facebook, Definers helped to blunt other critics, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, who criticized the company for its privacy practices, the Times said. NTK Networks, a conservative news site tied to Definers, published dozens of critical stories about Google and Apple, including one that called Cook hypocritical for his statements.

In its blog post Thursday, Facebook said it ended its contract with Definers “last night.”

Definers Public Affairs didn’t immediately responded to requests for comment.

Internally, Facebook was dealing with a number of issues, including whether to boot Donald Trump from the social network in 2015 after he called for a “total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the US, the paper reported. Separately, Sandberg was angry at Facebook security chief Alex Stamos, who has since left the company, after she found out that his team was looking into potential election meddling by Russian trolls without approval. In 2017, when he told the board of directors the company hadn’t contained the Russian interference on the platform, she apparently felt betrayed.

“You threw us under the bus!” she reportedly yelled at Stamos.

Facebook told The New York Times it was committed to addressing its challenges.

“This has been a tough time at Facebook and our entire management team has been focused on tackling the issues we face,” Facebook said in a statement to The New York Times. “While these are hard problems we are working hard to ensure that people find our products useful and that we protect our community from bad actors.”

The social network sent the same statement after CNET asked for comment.

In Washington, Facebook not only played down concerns about election meddling but also tapped into its relationships with US lawmakers to control the damage, according to The Times. Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who introduced a bill that would require Facebook and other tech companies to disclose who purchased political ads online, reportedly dialed down her criticism of the tech firm after Sandberg complained.

A spokesman for Klobuchar told the Times that Facebook’s lobbying hadn’t changed her commitment to holding the company accountable. “Facebook was pushing to exclude issue ads from the Honest Ads Act, and Sen. Klobuchar strenuously disagreed and refused to change the bill,” he said, in a statement.

Klobuchar’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Originally published Nov. 14 at 4:58 p.m. PT.
Updated Nov. 15 at 5:03 a.m. PT: Added information about Facebook’s blog post.

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