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.
Kristi Noem Issues Blistering Response to ‘Ill-Informed Famous Musicians’ Who Attacked ICE at Grammys
Government shutdown ends as Trump signs bill, but DHS funding deadline looms
NFL’s Roger Goodell Gripes About Lack of Black Head Coaches Ahead of Woke Super Bowl Halftime Circus
GOP senator jabs Jeffries as ‘butt hurt’ over Trump-Schumer deal
My night with Kamala: Harris’s ‘I told you so’ tour comes to Richmond
Judge orders man accused of spraying Ilhan Omar held before trial, possibly in solitary confinement
AI giant’s lobbyist spending exploded as it clashed with Trump administration
California parents who decapitated 2 children, forced other kids to see bodies learn sentence
Florida GOP candidate launches Tinder account to campaign to young female voters
Billie Eilish’s ‘Stolen Land’ Grammy Lecture Hilariously Backfires – Tribe That Claims Land Under Her Mansion Calls Her Out
Mandelson resigns from House of Lords as Keir Starmer hopes to stop Epstein scandal from engulfing him
FLASHBACK: 2024’s immigration ground zero in spotlight again as judge’s 11th hour ruling sparks outrage
Police Sources Detail Grim Findings in the House of Savannah Guthrie’s Mother
Noem responds to Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish bashing ICE at Grammys: ‘I wish they knew’
Top teachers union under fire as lawmakers push to strip union of unique federal charter: ‘Lost their way’
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.
Kristi Noem Issues Blistering Response to ‘Ill-Informed Famous Musicians’ Who Attacked ICE at Grammys
Government shutdown ends as Trump signs bill, but DHS funding deadline looms
NFL’s Roger Goodell Gripes About Lack of Black Head Coaches Ahead of Woke Super Bowl Halftime Circus
GOP senator jabs Jeffries as ‘butt hurt’ over Trump-Schumer deal
My night with Kamala: Harris’s ‘I told you so’ tour comes to Richmond
Judge orders man accused of spraying Ilhan Omar held before trial, possibly in solitary confinement
AI giant’s lobbyist spending exploded as it clashed with Trump administration
California parents who decapitated 2 children, forced other kids to see bodies learn sentence
Florida GOP candidate launches Tinder account to campaign to young female voters
Billie Eilish’s ‘Stolen Land’ Grammy Lecture Hilariously Backfires – Tribe That Claims Land Under Her Mansion Calls Her Out
Mandelson resigns from House of Lords as Keir Starmer hopes to stop Epstein scandal from engulfing him
FLASHBACK: 2024’s immigration ground zero in spotlight again as judge’s 11th hour ruling sparks outrage
Police Sources Detail Grim Findings in the House of Savannah Guthrie’s Mother
Noem responds to Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish bashing ICE at Grammys: ‘I wish they knew’
Top teachers union under fire as lawmakers push to strip union of unique federal charter: ‘Lost their way’
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.”
Kristi Noem Issues Blistering Response to ‘Ill-Informed Famous Musicians’ Who Attacked ICE at Grammys
Government shutdown ends as Trump signs bill, but DHS funding deadline looms
NFL’s Roger Goodell Gripes About Lack of Black Head Coaches Ahead of Woke Super Bowl Halftime Circus
GOP senator jabs Jeffries as ‘butt hurt’ over Trump-Schumer deal
My night with Kamala: Harris’s ‘I told you so’ tour comes to Richmond
Judge orders man accused of spraying Ilhan Omar held before trial, possibly in solitary confinement
AI giant’s lobbyist spending exploded as it clashed with Trump administration
California parents who decapitated 2 children, forced other kids to see bodies learn sentence
Florida GOP candidate launches Tinder account to campaign to young female voters
Billie Eilish’s ‘Stolen Land’ Grammy Lecture Hilariously Backfires – Tribe That Claims Land Under Her Mansion Calls Her Out
Mandelson resigns from House of Lords as Keir Starmer hopes to stop Epstein scandal from engulfing him
FLASHBACK: 2024’s immigration ground zero in spotlight again as judge’s 11th hour ruling sparks outrage
Police Sources Detail Grim Findings in the House of Savannah Guthrie’s Mother
Noem responds to Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish bashing ICE at Grammys: ‘I wish they knew’
Top teachers union under fire as lawmakers push to strip union of unique federal charter: ‘Lost their way’
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.”
Kristi Noem Issues Blistering Response to ‘Ill-Informed Famous Musicians’ Who Attacked ICE at Grammys
Government shutdown ends as Trump signs bill, but DHS funding deadline looms
NFL’s Roger Goodell Gripes About Lack of Black Head Coaches Ahead of Woke Super Bowl Halftime Circus
GOP senator jabs Jeffries as ‘butt hurt’ over Trump-Schumer deal
My night with Kamala: Harris’s ‘I told you so’ tour comes to Richmond
Judge orders man accused of spraying Ilhan Omar held before trial, possibly in solitary confinement
AI giant’s lobbyist spending exploded as it clashed with Trump administration
California parents who decapitated 2 children, forced other kids to see bodies learn sentence
Florida GOP candidate launches Tinder account to campaign to young female voters
Billie Eilish’s ‘Stolen Land’ Grammy Lecture Hilariously Backfires – Tribe That Claims Land Under Her Mansion Calls Her Out
Mandelson resigns from House of Lords as Keir Starmer hopes to stop Epstein scandal from engulfing him
FLASHBACK: 2024’s immigration ground zero in spotlight again as judge’s 11th hour ruling sparks outrage
Police Sources Detail Grim Findings in the House of Savannah Guthrie’s Mother
Noem responds to Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish bashing ICE at Grammys: ‘I wish they knew’
Top teachers union under fire as lawmakers push to strip union of unique federal charter: ‘Lost their way’
“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.









