Daily Beast Says Facebook Helped Them Dox Trump Supporter

The Daily Beast recently doxed a black forklift driver and reported Trump supporter for the alleged high crime of creating a parody video of Democrat speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi. But there’s more to the story — it appears Facebook may have helped the left-wing journalists identify him.

The Daily Beast identified the video creator as Shawn Brooks, whom they described as a forklift driver and Trump supporter from the Bronx.

A Twitter account claiming to be Brooks disputed key details of the story, claiming he is not a Trump supporter, did not create the parody video, and does not live in the Bronx.

By doxing Brooks, The Daily Beast followed the example of CNN, which threatened to unmask an anonymous Trump supporter over a parody video, forcing to him apologize in exchange for not revealing his identity. The scandal caused “CNNBlackmail” to trend on Twitter.

But there’s another aspect to the Daily Beast story which has major implications for the privacy of Facebook users — according to the Daily Beast reporter himself, Facebook gave him information on Brooks’ activity on the platform.

New Jersey middle school teacher charged with child sex assault after alleged sexual relationship with student

Appeals court pauses orders limiting federal agents’ use of tear gas at protests near Portland ICE building

United jet dodges Black Hawk in last-second maneuver over California airport: ‘That was not good’

BREAKING: Trump Ends DHS Payment Freeze Without Congress, Issues Immediate Orders to New DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin

Schumer, Dems block DHS funding again as Trump intervenes to pay TSA agents

Nancy Mace Poised to Side with Democrats to Pass War Powers Resolution: ‘War with Iran Needs to End’

Elon Musk demands judge’s recusal after latest flare-up over alleged bias

Trump declares national emergency at airports, to sign order instructing DHS to ‘immediately pay’ TSA officers

CPAC 2026 cools on Trump 2028 campaign

Alert: Olympic Committee Steps up to Protect Women, Bans Trans Athletes from Female Events

Treasury to place Trump’s signature on paper currency to mark nation’s 250th anniversary

Bombshell Report: US Intel Finds Ukrainian Messages Detailing Plot to Swing Election Toward Biden

Andy Barr seeks to thwart ‘patently false’ Kentucky Senate ad with cease and desist

‘Orwellian’ Biden-era censorship reined in; red states celebrate ‘historic’ settlement

Netflix Denies Exec Called Muslims ‘Dangerous People’ After Reportedly Asking Comic to Cut Islam Joke

Via the Daily Beast:

It’s conceivable that someone else actually edited the clip. But a Facebook official, confirming a Daily Beast investigation, said the video was first posted on Politics WatchDog directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account. [emphasis ours]

If the Daily Beast’s description of Facebook’s actions is accurate, Facebook compromised the privacy of one of its users, handing over information on his activity to a journalist who was clearly engaged in a politically motivated hatchet-job.

Facebook has been rocked by repeated privacy scandals over the past two years, including giving major corporations access to user data without permission. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently unveiled a re-branding effort emphasizing the company’s commitment to protecting the privacy of its users.

“I believe that the future is private,” Zuckerberg said at a recent Facebook conference.

Even left-wing feminist Caroline Orr, who described the Pelosi parody as “disgusting” (it’s simply a video of Pelosi slowed down to make her words appear slurred), expressed shock at the idea of Facebook handing over private information about its users.