Sheryl Sandberg apparently asked Facebook personnel to probe Soros’ financial resources

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg asked the business’s interactions personnel to research study George Soros’ financial resources after the billionaire financier leveled prominent criticism towards tech business, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Sandberg made the demand in an e-mail sent out to senior interactions and policy executives in January, sources informed the paper. The e-mail was apparently sent out a couple of days after the investor described tech business such as Facebook and Google as a “menace.”

A New York Times investigative report previously this month concluded that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sandberg “ignored warning signs” of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political consultancy misused information from countless Facebook users, and worked with a company called Definers Public Affairs to strike back versus its critics. Definers flowed a research study file and attempted to push reporters to go into monetary ties in between Soros and members of Freedom from Facebook, a union of Facebook critics that’s advised regulators to separate the social networks giant.

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Facebook said in a statement that the social networking giant had already begun researching Soros when Sandberg made her request.

“Mr. Soros is a prominent investor and we looked into his investments and trading activity related to Facebook,” the company said in a statement. “That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr. Soros had shorted Facebook’s stock.”

The company went on to say that Sandberg didn’t direct research on Freedom from Facebook, but said “she takes full responsibility for any activity that happened on her watch.”

Soros criticized Facebook during a speech in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he called for “more stringent regulations” on the tech giants.

“As Facebook and Google have grown into ever more powerful monopolies, they have become obstacles to innovation, and they have caused a variety of problems of which we are only now beginning to become aware,” he said.

“They claim they are merely distributing information. But the fact that they are near-monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access,” he said in his speech.

During his first public appearance since the Times report, Zuckerberg showed his support for Sandberg.

“She has been an important partner for me for 10 years,” Zuckerberg told CNN last week. “I am really proud of the work we have done together and hope we work together for decades more to come.”

Earlier this month, a group of Democratic senators sent a letter pressing the social network for more details about its relationship with Definers.

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