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 Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
New US military GenAI tool ‘critical first step’ in future of warfare, says expert
DOJ walks back Biden-era abortion policy, bars VA from funding procedures
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.
New Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
New US military GenAI tool ‘critical first step’ in future of warfare, says expert
DOJ walks back Biden-era abortion policy, bars VA from funding procedures
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.”
New Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
New US military GenAI tool ‘critical first step’ in future of warfare, says expert
DOJ walks back Biden-era abortion policy, bars VA from funding procedures
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.”
New Trump admin envoy says US won’t ‘conquer’ Greenland, emphasizes talks with locals as Denmark balks at move
Trump admin sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker over laws shielding migrants from courthouse arrests
Trump to deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans in crime crackdown
PA man charged with attempting to make weapons of mass destruction after neighbor tip
Developing: Mass Casualty Event Declared at Pennsylvania Nursing Home After Suspected Gas Explosion – Please Pray
4 indicted in foiled New Year’s Eve terror bombing plot targeting Southern California businesses
Breaking: FBI Confirms Epstein Letter to Larry Nassar Implicating Trump Is a Complete Fake
Blue City Paradise: Seattle Woman, 75, Now Partially Blind After Board with Screw Protruding Was Slammed Into Her Head – Suspect Arrested 8 Times in 2025 Alone
Christmastime ICE Operation ‘Angel’s Honor’ nets child rapist, torturer
Proceedings paused against ‘Zizian’ murder suspect following competency claims
Florida Woman Arrested, Accused of Executing Both of Her Ex-Husbands on the Same Day
Stacy Garrity’s campaign releases new ominous ad targeting Josh Shapiro
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Boasberg says Trump must provide due process to CECOT migrants
New US military GenAI tool ‘critical first step’ in future of warfare, says expert
DOJ walks back Biden-era abortion policy, bars VA from funding procedures
“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.









