News Opinons Politics

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.


Trump Announces California’s Time Has Come – ‘Fraud Investigation’ Underway
Hillary Clinton Marks Jan. 6 with a Huge Lie About Trump’s Actions on the Day
Trump says Democrats are ‘meaner’ than Republicans, warns of impeachment if GOP loses midterms
Trump pitches cognitive tests for leaders, questions if Harris, Walz, Newsom could pass
Breaking: Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa Dies Suddenly at Age 65
CDC Significantly Alters Childhood Vaccine Schedule After ‘Exhaustive Review of the Evidence’
Iran rolls out $7 payments to quell affordability protests
Republican congressman hospitalized after car accident, sources say
Republicans rally behind Trump’s military strike to arrest Maduro as Democrats sound alarm: poll
Trial underway for former Uvalde school police officer accused of slow response to shooting
Frantic 911 calls detail moments before Columbus dentist and wife found dead: ‘There’s a body’
Maduro’s wife suffered ‘significant injuries’ in dramatic capture, attorney alleges
Trump rallies House GOP at Kennedy Center days after Maduro capture
Victor Davis Hanson Gives Health Update After Undergoing Major Operation
Donald Trump and 1980s Deja Vu: Maduro’s Capture Just Latest Example
See also  Key lawmakers to watch as Congress faces another looming shutdown deadline

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.


Trump Announces California’s Time Has Come – ‘Fraud Investigation’ Underway
Hillary Clinton Marks Jan. 6 with a Huge Lie About Trump’s Actions on the Day
Trump says Democrats are ‘meaner’ than Republicans, warns of impeachment if GOP loses midterms
Trump pitches cognitive tests for leaders, questions if Harris, Walz, Newsom could pass
Breaking: Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa Dies Suddenly at Age 65
CDC Significantly Alters Childhood Vaccine Schedule After ‘Exhaustive Review of the Evidence’
Iran rolls out $7 payments to quell affordability protests
Republican congressman hospitalized after car accident, sources say
Republicans rally behind Trump’s military strike to arrest Maduro as Democrats sound alarm: poll
Trial underway for former Uvalde school police officer accused of slow response to shooting
Frantic 911 calls detail moments before Columbus dentist and wife found dead: ‘There’s a body’
Maduro’s wife suffered ‘significant injuries’ in dramatic capture, attorney alleges
Trump rallies House GOP at Kennedy Center days after Maduro capture
Victor Davis Hanson Gives Health Update After Undergoing Major Operation
Donald Trump and 1980s Deja Vu: Maduro’s Capture Just Latest Example

“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.

See also  Somali-run accounting firm with spotty record connects scrutinized Somali nonprofit groups

“That’s extremely troubling.”


Trump Announces California’s Time Has Come – ‘Fraud Investigation’ Underway
Hillary Clinton Marks Jan. 6 with a Huge Lie About Trump’s Actions on the Day
Trump says Democrats are ‘meaner’ than Republicans, warns of impeachment if GOP loses midterms
Trump pitches cognitive tests for leaders, questions if Harris, Walz, Newsom could pass
Breaking: Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa Dies Suddenly at Age 65
CDC Significantly Alters Childhood Vaccine Schedule After ‘Exhaustive Review of the Evidence’
Iran rolls out $7 payments to quell affordability protests
Republican congressman hospitalized after car accident, sources say
Republicans rally behind Trump’s military strike to arrest Maduro as Democrats sound alarm: poll
Trial underway for former Uvalde school police officer accused of slow response to shooting
Frantic 911 calls detail moments before Columbus dentist and wife found dead: ‘There’s a body’
Maduro’s wife suffered ‘significant injuries’ in dramatic capture, attorney alleges
Trump rallies House GOP at Kennedy Center days after Maduro capture
Victor Davis Hanson Gives Health Update After Undergoing Major Operation
Donald Trump and 1980s Deja Vu: Maduro’s Capture Just Latest Example

“Facebook confirmed to the reporter that the video was first posted “directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account.”

See also  Walz received $10K from donors tied to Somali-run day care centers

Trump Announces California’s Time Has Come – ‘Fraud Investigation’ Underway
Hillary Clinton Marks Jan. 6 with a Huge Lie About Trump’s Actions on the Day
Trump says Democrats are ‘meaner’ than Republicans, warns of impeachment if GOP loses midterms
Trump pitches cognitive tests for leaders, questions if Harris, Walz, Newsom could pass
Breaking: Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa Dies Suddenly at Age 65
CDC Significantly Alters Childhood Vaccine Schedule After ‘Exhaustive Review of the Evidence’
Iran rolls out $7 payments to quell affordability protests
Republican congressman hospitalized after car accident, sources say
Republicans rally behind Trump’s military strike to arrest Maduro as Democrats sound alarm: poll
Trial underway for former Uvalde school police officer accused of slow response to shooting
Frantic 911 calls detail moments before Columbus dentist and wife found dead: ‘There’s a body’
Maduro’s wife suffered ‘significant injuries’ in dramatic capture, attorney alleges
Trump rallies House GOP at Kennedy Center days after Maduro capture
Victor Davis Hanson Gives Health Update After Undergoing Major Operation
Donald Trump and 1980s Deja Vu: Maduro’s Capture Just Latest Example

“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.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter