{"id":4409,"date":"2018-11-15T17:40:32","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T17:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/facebook-accused-of-dark-pr-tactics\/"},"modified":"2018-11-15T17:40:32","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T17:40:32","slug":"facebook-accused-of-dark-pr-tactics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/facebook-accused-of-dark-pr-tactics\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook accused of dark PR tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div property=\"articleBody\">\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption full-width lead\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-image-replace\" alt=\"Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/8881\/production\/_104354943_fb-montage.png\" width=\"976\" height=\"549\"\/><span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Reuters\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"story-body__introduction\">Facebook faces a new controversy over alleged tactics it used to discredit its critics, embarrass rival firms and downplay problems at the company.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/14\/technology\/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?action=click&amp;module=inline&amp;pgtype=Homepage\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">New York Times<\/a> has published a wide-ranging account of the methods Facebook and a public relations firm used to &#8220;deny and deflect&#8221; criticism.<\/p>\n<p>The report has led US lawmakers to call for tighter regulation of social networks.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook has denied several of the claims.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times report claimed Facebook:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">urged reporters to investigate whether there were financial links between billionaire George Soros, a prominent philanthropist, and an anti-Facebook movement<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">tried to discredit anti-Facebook protesters as anti-Semitic<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">ordered the publication of derogatory articles about rivals<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">watered down posts about Russian election interference and was slow to act<\/li>\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\">considered dragging rival companies into its controversies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The newspaper said PR firm Definers had circulated a document suggesting Mr Soros was the hidden backer of anti-Facebook movement Freedom from Facebook. <\/p>\n<ul class=\"story-body__unordered-list\">\n<li class=\"story-body__list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-46222031\" class=\"story-body__link\">Facebook leaks take their toll<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The document encouraged journalists to explore the financial connections between anti-Facebook groups and Mr Soros, who is frequently the target of conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic smears.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    George Soros is often the target of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mr Soros&#8217;s Open Society Foundations said it had not made any grants to support campaigns against Facebook. It said Facebook&#8217;s behaviour was &#8220;astonishing&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Your methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy,&#8221; said its president, Patrick Gaspard.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.fb.com\/news\/2018\/11\/new-york-times-update\/\" class=\"story-body__link-external\">Responding to the article<\/a>, Facebook said it had wanted to show that Freedom From Facebook was &#8220;not simply a spontaneous grassroots campaign&#8221; and that the movement was &#8220;supported by a well-known critic of our company&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>It said any suggestion that it had been an anti-Semitic attack was &#8220;reprehensible&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Did Facebook try to discredit protesters?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    Facebook has been criticised by privacy campaigners<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In July, protesters interrupted a House Judiciary Committee hearing where a Facebook executive was giving testimony. <\/p>\n<p>The protesters carried signs showing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg as two heads of an octopus, wrapping its tentacles around the world.<\/p>\n<p>The New York Times said Facebook had called Jewish civil rights organisation the Anti-Defamation League and asked them to comment on the sign. <\/p>\n<p>Soon after, the ADL posted a statement calling the image an &#8220;anti-Semitic trope&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook has not responded to this claim.<\/p>\n<p>The ADL said it routinely responded to reports of anti-Semitic slurs and evaluated each one appropriately. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Did it water down information about election meddling?<\/h2>\n<p>According to the New York Times, Facebook executives were angry that its chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, had directed a team to investigate Russian election meddling without approval. <\/p>\n<p>It said Ms Sandberg had been worried that investigating the interference left Facebook &#8220;exposed&#8221; to legal action.<\/p>\n<p>The company ordered blog posts about election interference to be &#8220;less specific&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The first blog post did not name Russia at all and the company &#8220;stalled&#8221; disclosing information for weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook said it had not named Russia in a research paper about election meddling because it had felt the US intelligence services were &#8220;best placed to determine the source&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The company said it had never discouraged its security experts from investigating election interference.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Did it plant negative news about rivals?<\/h2>\n<p>The newspaper said Facebook was responsible for dozens of articles criticising Apple and Google for their business practices.<\/p>\n<p>The articles were published on conservative news site NTK Network, which shares staff and offices with PR firm Definers. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">NTK Network<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    The NTK website ran dozens of stories about Apple and Google<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While NTK itself does not have a large audience, its articles are often picked up by larger outlets such as Breitbart.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook said Mr Zuckerberg had been clear that he disagreed with Apple chief executive Tim Cook&#8217;s criticisms of his company and there had been &#8220;no need to employ anyone else&#8221; to criticise Apple.<\/p>\n<p>It said Mr Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg had been &#8220;deeply involved in the fight against false news&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Did Facebook try to generate positive headlines?<\/h2>\n<p>In February 2018, Ms Sandberg publicly backed new legislation that would hold social networks accountable if they failed to tackle sex trafficking on their platforms.<\/p>\n<p>Other technology companies had been critical of the proposed law.<\/p>\n<p>According to the New York Times, Facebook felt backing the legislation would look positive and would win favour with law-makers.<\/p>\n<p>But Facebook said Ms Sandberg had backed the legislation because &#8220;it was the right thing to do&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Did Facebook try to drag Google into its controversies?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape has-caption full-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>                 <span class=\"off-screen\">Image copyright<\/span><br \/>\n                 <span class=\"story-image-copyright\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\"><span class=\"off-screen\">Image caption<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"media-caption__text\"><br \/>\n                    Sheryl Sandberg gave evidence to the Senate Intelligence Committee<br \/>\n                <\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After a New York Times article revealed that Facebook had undeclared deals with phone-makers to share user data with them, the company set up focus groups to test how it should react. <\/p>\n<p>One approach it tested was arguing that Google had similar data-sharing deals with phone-makers.<\/p>\n<p>When asked to testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Facebook lobbied for the hearing to include a Google representative, the newspaper said. <\/p>\n<p>Google was asked to testify but did not show up. Many of the news headlines of the day focused on Google&#8217;s empty chair.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">What were the other allegations?<\/h2>\n<p>The report also said Facebook had urged staff to use only Android devices, after Apple&#8217;s Tim Cook had criticised the social network.<\/p>\n<p>Facebook said it encouraged employees and executives to use Android because &#8220;it is the most popular operating system in the world&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper also suggested Facebook had struggled to work out how to deal with a post made by Donald Trump in 2015, calling for a ban on Muslim immigration.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;To suggest that the internal debate around this particular case was different from other important free speech issues on Facebook is wrong,&#8221; the company said in a blog post.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">What has the reaction been?<\/h2>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal reported that morale at Facebook had fallen amid the ongoing scrutiny of the company.<\/p>\n<p>It said it had seen an internal survey taken by 29,000 employees that reported only half were &#8220;optimistic&#8221; about the company&#8217;s future, a fall of 32 percentage points from the previous year.<\/p>\n<p>The Open Society Foundations president, Mr Gaspard, said Facebook had used tactics &#8220;out of Putin&#8217;s playbook&#8221; that had &#8220;no place in an important debate about the integrity of our elections&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic congressman David Cicilline said in a post that &#8220;Facebook cannot be trusted to regulate itself&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Facebook executives will always put their massive profits ahead of the interests of their customers,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Congress should get to work enacting new laws to hold concentrated economic power to account.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Facebook said it had ended its relationship with Definers and had never hidden its work with the consultancy. <\/p>\n<p>Definers has not yet responded to the BBC&#8217;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media-landscape no-caption body-width\"><span class=\"image-and-copyright-container\"><\/p>\n<p>            <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"story-body__crosshead\">Analysis<\/h2>\n<p><strong>by Rory Cellan-Jones, technology correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We knew that Facebook&#8217;s handling of its recent crises had been inept. <\/p>\n<p>Mark Zuckerberg&#8217;s description of the idea that fake news put Donald Trump in the White House as &#8220;crazy&#8221; was a prime example.<\/p>\n<p>But now the New York Times has painted a startling picture not just of negligence and mismanagement by Facebook&#8217;s leaders but of deeply questionable tactics as they fought to protect the image of their company.<\/p>\n<p>This new evidence of ethical failings will also embolden politicians and regulators around the world who want to clip Facebook&#8217;s wings. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-46222031\" class=\"story-body__link\">Facebook leaks take their toll<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-46221247\">Source<\/a> by <a href=\"\">[author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright Reuters\/Getty Images Facebook faces a new controversy over alleged tactics it used to discredit its critics, embarrass rival firms and downplay problems at the company. The New York Times has published a wide-ranging account of the methods Facebook and a public relations firm used to &#8220;deny and deflect&#8221; criticism. The report has led &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}