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.
WATCH – Smug Dem Rep’s Face Goes Totally Blank After a Cool Sec. Bessent Educates Him About His Own Branch of Government
GRAPHIC: The Excuse This Islamist Gives for Raping 250 Women Shows Why Islam and the West Can’t Exist Together
Pennsylvania AG explains why state leads nation in Medicaid fraud convictions while others battle mass schemes
Veteran-founded bourbon brand wins $25,000 Fox Business contest: ‘Sip to remember’
Witnesses in Karmelo Anthony murder trial confirm Austin Metcalf’s words immediately after attack
Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading
The Way to Save Education Is Through School Choice
Christians Are Being Hunted Like Sport
Auburn student Weston Higginbotham found dead in Japan after weeklong search, mom confirms
Platner supporter Khanna calls Senate hopeful’s past relationships ‘toxic,’ but says he deserves ‘redemption’
Six Flags Bans Popular YouTuber ‘For Life’ After Viral Chicken McNugget Video
National Park Service ranger dies after falling into crevasse on Mount McKinley during climbing patrol
USDA Secretary Faces Lawsuit for Explicitly Christian Messages to Employees
Ex-CIA official stole $40 million in gold by making fake top-secret spy program
Top House Democrat says there’s ‘no way’ Platner didn’t know tattoo’s Nazi origins
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.
WATCH – Smug Dem Rep’s Face Goes Totally Blank After a Cool Sec. Bessent Educates Him About His Own Branch of Government
GRAPHIC: The Excuse This Islamist Gives for Raping 250 Women Shows Why Islam and the West Can’t Exist Together
Pennsylvania AG explains why state leads nation in Medicaid fraud convictions while others battle mass schemes
Veteran-founded bourbon brand wins $25,000 Fox Business contest: ‘Sip to remember’
Witnesses in Karmelo Anthony murder trial confirm Austin Metcalf’s words immediately after attack
Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading
The Way to Save Education Is Through School Choice
Christians Are Being Hunted Like Sport
Auburn student Weston Higginbotham found dead in Japan after weeklong search, mom confirms
Platner supporter Khanna calls Senate hopeful’s past relationships ‘toxic,’ but says he deserves ‘redemption’
Six Flags Bans Popular YouTuber ‘For Life’ After Viral Chicken McNugget Video
National Park Service ranger dies after falling into crevasse on Mount McKinley during climbing patrol
USDA Secretary Faces Lawsuit for Explicitly Christian Messages to Employees
Ex-CIA official stole $40 million in gold by making fake top-secret spy program
Top House Democrat says there’s ‘no way’ Platner didn’t know tattoo’s Nazi origins
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.”
WATCH – Smug Dem Rep’s Face Goes Totally Blank After a Cool Sec. Bessent Educates Him About His Own Branch of Government
GRAPHIC: The Excuse This Islamist Gives for Raping 250 Women Shows Why Islam and the West Can’t Exist Together
Pennsylvania AG explains why state leads nation in Medicaid fraud convictions while others battle mass schemes
Veteran-founded bourbon brand wins $25,000 Fox Business contest: ‘Sip to remember’
Witnesses in Karmelo Anthony murder trial confirm Austin Metcalf’s words immediately after attack
Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading
The Way to Save Education Is Through School Choice
Christians Are Being Hunted Like Sport
Auburn student Weston Higginbotham found dead in Japan after weeklong search, mom confirms
Platner supporter Khanna calls Senate hopeful’s past relationships ‘toxic,’ but says he deserves ‘redemption’
Six Flags Bans Popular YouTuber ‘For Life’ After Viral Chicken McNugget Video
National Park Service ranger dies after falling into crevasse on Mount McKinley during climbing patrol
USDA Secretary Faces Lawsuit for Explicitly Christian Messages to Employees
Ex-CIA official stole $40 million in gold by making fake top-secret spy program
Top House Democrat says there’s ‘no way’ Platner didn’t know tattoo’s Nazi origins
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.”
WATCH – Smug Dem Rep’s Face Goes Totally Blank After a Cool Sec. Bessent Educates Him About His Own Branch of Government
GRAPHIC: The Excuse This Islamist Gives for Raping 250 Women Shows Why Islam and the West Can’t Exist Together
Pennsylvania AG explains why state leads nation in Medicaid fraud convictions while others battle mass schemes
Veteran-founded bourbon brand wins $25,000 Fox Business contest: ‘Sip to remember’
Witnesses in Karmelo Anthony murder trial confirm Austin Metcalf’s words immediately after attack
Trump issues pardon to former Republican congressman convicted of insider trading
The Way to Save Education Is Through School Choice
Christians Are Being Hunted Like Sport
Auburn student Weston Higginbotham found dead in Japan after weeklong search, mom confirms
Platner supporter Khanna calls Senate hopeful’s past relationships ‘toxic,’ but says he deserves ‘redemption’
Six Flags Bans Popular YouTuber ‘For Life’ After Viral Chicken McNugget Video
National Park Service ranger dies after falling into crevasse on Mount McKinley during climbing patrol
USDA Secretary Faces Lawsuit for Explicitly Christian Messages to Employees
Ex-CIA official stole $40 million in gold by making fake top-secret spy program
Top House Democrat says there’s ‘no way’ Platner didn’t know tattoo’s Nazi origins
“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.
