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.
Many RNC Convention Attendees Balked at Trump’s Plan to Cut $5K Checks for Americans
Tucker Carlson Defends El-Sayed on 9/11, Condemns His GOP Opponent Mike Rogers
Smithsonian’s dark take on America exposed: Washington dubbed ‘town destroyer,’ Revolutionary War ‘dangerous’
Alito, Thomas shred ‘Hail Mary’ challenge to federal ballot mail rules in dissent
Surrogate who refused abortion asks SCOTUS to intervene as baby could be moved out of Texas
Georgia mayor, 23, ousted 10 months after making history as state’s youngest mayor
Republicans Attack GOP Candidate for Pointing Out How Many Foreign Students Attended Texas-Ohio State Game
Breaking: SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Restrictions Months Before Midterms
‘Trojan horses’ in America: Congress probes influence networks tied to China, Iran and Cuba
House Dems face Trump tariff dilemma as major Russia sanctions bill heads to floor
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to revive strict mail-ballot rules before midterms
Trump Gives Huge Update on Russia-Ukraine War That Could Ease Pain at the Gas Pumps
Mamdani blasts feds for waging ‘campaign of violence and terror’ against NYC’s immigrants
House unanimously votes to eliminate 1-cent coin permanently
GOP Gov. Candidate Forced to Swim for His Life After Plane Crash – Reporter Says Water Was ‘Only 30 Feet’ Deep
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.
Many RNC Convention Attendees Balked at Trump’s Plan to Cut $5K Checks for Americans
Tucker Carlson Defends El-Sayed on 9/11, Condemns His GOP Opponent Mike Rogers
Smithsonian’s dark take on America exposed: Washington dubbed ‘town destroyer,’ Revolutionary War ‘dangerous’
Alito, Thomas shred ‘Hail Mary’ challenge to federal ballot mail rules in dissent
Surrogate who refused abortion asks SCOTUS to intervene as baby could be moved out of Texas
Georgia mayor, 23, ousted 10 months after making history as state’s youngest mayor
Republicans Attack GOP Candidate for Pointing Out How Many Foreign Students Attended Texas-Ohio State Game
Breaking: SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Restrictions Months Before Midterms
‘Trojan horses’ in America: Congress probes influence networks tied to China, Iran and Cuba
House Dems face Trump tariff dilemma as major Russia sanctions bill heads to floor
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to revive strict mail-ballot rules before midterms
Trump Gives Huge Update on Russia-Ukraine War That Could Ease Pain at the Gas Pumps
Mamdani blasts feds for waging ‘campaign of violence and terror’ against NYC’s immigrants
House unanimously votes to eliminate 1-cent coin permanently
GOP Gov. Candidate Forced to Swim for His Life After Plane Crash – Reporter Says Water Was ‘Only 30 Feet’ Deep
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.”
Many RNC Convention Attendees Balked at Trump’s Plan to Cut $5K Checks for Americans
Tucker Carlson Defends El-Sayed on 9/11, Condemns His GOP Opponent Mike Rogers
Smithsonian’s dark take on America exposed: Washington dubbed ‘town destroyer,’ Revolutionary War ‘dangerous’
Alito, Thomas shred ‘Hail Mary’ challenge to federal ballot mail rules in dissent
Surrogate who refused abortion asks SCOTUS to intervene as baby could be moved out of Texas
Georgia mayor, 23, ousted 10 months after making history as state’s youngest mayor
Republicans Attack GOP Candidate for Pointing Out How Many Foreign Students Attended Texas-Ohio State Game
Breaking: SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Restrictions Months Before Midterms
‘Trojan horses’ in America: Congress probes influence networks tied to China, Iran and Cuba
House Dems face Trump tariff dilemma as major Russia sanctions bill heads to floor
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to revive strict mail-ballot rules before midterms
Trump Gives Huge Update on Russia-Ukraine War That Could Ease Pain at the Gas Pumps
Mamdani blasts feds for waging ‘campaign of violence and terror’ against NYC’s immigrants
House unanimously votes to eliminate 1-cent coin permanently
GOP Gov. Candidate Forced to Swim for His Life After Plane Crash – Reporter Says Water Was ‘Only 30 Feet’ Deep
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.”
Many RNC Convention Attendees Balked at Trump’s Plan to Cut $5K Checks for Americans
Tucker Carlson Defends El-Sayed on 9/11, Condemns His GOP Opponent Mike Rogers
Smithsonian’s dark take on America exposed: Washington dubbed ‘town destroyer,’ Revolutionary War ‘dangerous’
Alito, Thomas shred ‘Hail Mary’ challenge to federal ballot mail rules in dissent
Surrogate who refused abortion asks SCOTUS to intervene as baby could be moved out of Texas
Georgia mayor, 23, ousted 10 months after making history as state’s youngest mayor
Republicans Attack GOP Candidate for Pointing Out How Many Foreign Students Attended Texas-Ohio State Game
Breaking: SCOTUS Blocks Trump’s Mail-in Ballot Restrictions Months Before Midterms
‘Trojan horses’ in America: Congress probes influence networks tied to China, Iran and Cuba
House Dems face Trump tariff dilemma as major Russia sanctions bill heads to floor
Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to revive strict mail-ballot rules before midterms
Trump Gives Huge Update on Russia-Ukraine War That Could Ease Pain at the Gas Pumps
Mamdani blasts feds for waging ‘campaign of violence and terror’ against NYC’s immigrants
House unanimously votes to eliminate 1-cent coin permanently
GOP Gov. Candidate Forced to Swim for His Life After Plane Crash – Reporter Says Water Was ‘Only 30 Feet’ Deep
“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.









