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.
Kash Patel taunts Swalwell with FBI sit-down as resignation fallout grows
Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores will fail ‘like every socialist experiment’: economist
Saudi Arabia Pushes Trump Admin to End Strait of Hormuz Blockade Over Fears About Repercussions: Report
Cop who killed drug suspect with Igloo cooler appeals conviction that made him an example
Husband of missing American woman will remain in Bahamas after jail release, attorney says
‘I Do Nothing for the Approval of Man’: Riley Gaines Responds After Trump Says He’s ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Hers
DOJ Signals Probe Into Brutal Assault of Conservative Journalist Filming Anti-ICE Riot
Far-left Senate hopeful’s radical ties to ‘Maduro cronies’ could torpedo campaign: ‘Tired of the chaos’
Push to oust Trump exposes cracks among Democrats on strategy, timing
George Conway Chokes Back Tears Talking About Blowing Nearly $1M on Joe Biden
Mike Johnson raises $500,000 to fight Spanberger’s gerrymandering push in Virginia
Ranking the 2028 Democratic hopefuls at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network
State by state: Here’s where ICE has made the most arrests under Trump
‘Smart decision’: Swalwell’s resignation spurs praise from both parties after bombshell allegations emerge
US military kills 2 suspected cartel operatives in latest Eastern Pacific lethal strike, SOUTHCOM says
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.
Kash Patel taunts Swalwell with FBI sit-down as resignation fallout grows
Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores will fail ‘like every socialist experiment’: economist
Saudi Arabia Pushes Trump Admin to End Strait of Hormuz Blockade Over Fears About Repercussions: Report
Cop who killed drug suspect with Igloo cooler appeals conviction that made him an example
Husband of missing American woman will remain in Bahamas after jail release, attorney says
‘I Do Nothing for the Approval of Man’: Riley Gaines Responds After Trump Says He’s ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Hers
DOJ Signals Probe Into Brutal Assault of Conservative Journalist Filming Anti-ICE Riot
Far-left Senate hopeful’s radical ties to ‘Maduro cronies’ could torpedo campaign: ‘Tired of the chaos’
Push to oust Trump exposes cracks among Democrats on strategy, timing
George Conway Chokes Back Tears Talking About Blowing Nearly $1M on Joe Biden
Mike Johnson raises $500,000 to fight Spanberger’s gerrymandering push in Virginia
Ranking the 2028 Democratic hopefuls at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network
State by state: Here’s where ICE has made the most arrests under Trump
‘Smart decision’: Swalwell’s resignation spurs praise from both parties after bombshell allegations emerge
US military kills 2 suspected cartel operatives in latest Eastern Pacific lethal strike, SOUTHCOM says
So … it appears that Facebook helped the reporter who wrote this story identify the person behind the doctored video of Nancy Pelosi — i.e., Facebook used its own internal data to help publicly identify a private citizen.
That’s extremely troubling. 1/ https://t.co/DEXXL8C4uj
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) June 2, 2019
“It appears that Facebook helped the reporter who wrote this story identify the person behind the doctored video of Nancy Pelosi — i.e., Facebook used its own internal data to help publicly identify a private citizen” wrote Orr.
“That’s extremely troubling.”
Kash Patel taunts Swalwell with FBI sit-down as resignation fallout grows
Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores will fail ‘like every socialist experiment’: economist
Saudi Arabia Pushes Trump Admin to End Strait of Hormuz Blockade Over Fears About Repercussions: Report
Cop who killed drug suspect with Igloo cooler appeals conviction that made him an example
Husband of missing American woman will remain in Bahamas after jail release, attorney says
‘I Do Nothing for the Approval of Man’: Riley Gaines Responds After Trump Says He’s ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Hers
DOJ Signals Probe Into Brutal Assault of Conservative Journalist Filming Anti-ICE Riot
Far-left Senate hopeful’s radical ties to ‘Maduro cronies’ could torpedo campaign: ‘Tired of the chaos’
Push to oust Trump exposes cracks among Democrats on strategy, timing
George Conway Chokes Back Tears Talking About Blowing Nearly $1M on Joe Biden
Mike Johnson raises $500,000 to fight Spanberger’s gerrymandering push in Virginia
Ranking the 2028 Democratic hopefuls at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network
State by state: Here’s where ICE has made the most arrests under Trump
‘Smart decision’: Swalwell’s resignation spurs praise from both parties after bombshell allegations emerge
US military kills 2 suspected cartel operatives in latest Eastern Pacific lethal strike, SOUTHCOM says
Facebook confirmed to the reporter that the video was first posted “directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account.”
So… Facebook is handing over information to reporters regarding what people are doing on their personal Facebook accounts? 2/ pic.twitter.com/7D6MDcU5Es
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) June 2, 2019
“Facebook confirmed to the reporter that the video was first posted “directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account.”
Kash Patel taunts Swalwell with FBI sit-down as resignation fallout grows
Mamdani’s government-run grocery stores will fail ‘like every socialist experiment’: economist
Saudi Arabia Pushes Trump Admin to End Strait of Hormuz Blockade Over Fears About Repercussions: Report
Cop who killed drug suspect with Igloo cooler appeals conviction that made him an example
Husband of missing American woman will remain in Bahamas after jail release, attorney says
‘I Do Nothing for the Approval of Man’: Riley Gaines Responds After Trump Says He’s ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Hers
DOJ Signals Probe Into Brutal Assault of Conservative Journalist Filming Anti-ICE Riot
Far-left Senate hopeful’s radical ties to ‘Maduro cronies’ could torpedo campaign: ‘Tired of the chaos’
Push to oust Trump exposes cracks among Democrats on strategy, timing
George Conway Chokes Back Tears Talking About Blowing Nearly $1M on Joe Biden
Mike Johnson raises $500,000 to fight Spanberger’s gerrymandering push in Virginia
Ranking the 2028 Democratic hopefuls at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network
State by state: Here’s where ICE has made the most arrests under Trump
‘Smart decision’: Swalwell’s resignation spurs praise from both parties after bombshell allegations emerge
US military kills 2 suspected cartel operatives in latest Eastern Pacific lethal strike, SOUTHCOM says
“So… Facebook is handing over information to reporters regarding what people are doing on their personal Facebook accounts?”
“The guy didn’t break any laws. He didn’t even violate any of Facebook’s policies, according to the company. The doctored video is still up! In Facebook’s eyes, this guy did nothing wrong — yet they just handed over his private data to a reporter. How is that justifiable?”
Breitbart News has reached out to Facebook for its side of the story.
Story cited here.









