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.
South Carolina inmate who believes he is immortal cannot be executed due to mental illness, judge rules
Trump marks Cinco de Mayo with ‘NICE’ post, echoing past viral taco bowl moment
Family of Murdered College Student Furious as Killer Learns His Sentence: ‘It’s Not Enough’
Family makes terrifying discovery in basement following growing suspicions
Comer demands records after DC police leaders sidelined amid alleged crime data manipulation
Government Sues New York Times for Alleged Discrimination Against White Man
Obama’s Recent Political Moves Have Caused ‘Genuine Tension’ with Michelle
Trump’s grip on GOP tested in Indiana as primary battles target defiant Republicans
Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy wins Ohio GOP gubernatorial primary, will face Democrat Amy Acton
Sherrod Brown secures Ohio Dem nomination, faces GOP’s Husted in key battle for Senate majority
Trump Makes Bombshell Comment About Arming Iranian Protesters
Trump posts mockup of ICE rebranded to ‘NICE’ after supporter’s suggestion
Cuba, China, and the pope: Key takeaways from Marco Rubio’s raucous White House press conference
Backlash Erupts After City-Owned Water Park Advertises ‘Muslims Only’ Day
Miss Israel and Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Have Awkward Run-In at a New York City Cafe: Report
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.
South Carolina inmate who believes he is immortal cannot be executed due to mental illness, judge rules
Trump marks Cinco de Mayo with ‘NICE’ post, echoing past viral taco bowl moment
Family of Murdered College Student Furious as Killer Learns His Sentence: ‘It’s Not Enough’
Family makes terrifying discovery in basement following growing suspicions
Comer demands records after DC police leaders sidelined amid alleged crime data manipulation
Government Sues New York Times for Alleged Discrimination Against White Man
Obama’s Recent Political Moves Have Caused ‘Genuine Tension’ with Michelle
Trump’s grip on GOP tested in Indiana as primary battles target defiant Republicans
Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy wins Ohio GOP gubernatorial primary, will face Democrat Amy Acton
Sherrod Brown secures Ohio Dem nomination, faces GOP’s Husted in key battle for Senate majority
Trump Makes Bombshell Comment About Arming Iranian Protesters
Trump posts mockup of ICE rebranded to ‘NICE’ after supporter’s suggestion
Cuba, China, and the pope: Key takeaways from Marco Rubio’s raucous White House press conference
Backlash Erupts After City-Owned Water Park Advertises ‘Muslims Only’ Day
Miss Israel and Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Have Awkward Run-In at a New York City Cafe: Report
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.”
South Carolina inmate who believes he is immortal cannot be executed due to mental illness, judge rules
Trump marks Cinco de Mayo with ‘NICE’ post, echoing past viral taco bowl moment
Family of Murdered College Student Furious as Killer Learns His Sentence: ‘It’s Not Enough’
Family makes terrifying discovery in basement following growing suspicions
Comer demands records after DC police leaders sidelined amid alleged crime data manipulation
Government Sues New York Times for Alleged Discrimination Against White Man
Obama’s Recent Political Moves Have Caused ‘Genuine Tension’ with Michelle
Trump’s grip on GOP tested in Indiana as primary battles target defiant Republicans
Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy wins Ohio GOP gubernatorial primary, will face Democrat Amy Acton
Sherrod Brown secures Ohio Dem nomination, faces GOP’s Husted in key battle for Senate majority
Trump Makes Bombshell Comment About Arming Iranian Protesters
Trump posts mockup of ICE rebranded to ‘NICE’ after supporter’s suggestion
Cuba, China, and the pope: Key takeaways from Marco Rubio’s raucous White House press conference
Backlash Erupts After City-Owned Water Park Advertises ‘Muslims Only’ Day
Miss Israel and Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Have Awkward Run-In at a New York City Cafe: Report
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.”
South Carolina inmate who believes he is immortal cannot be executed due to mental illness, judge rules
Trump marks Cinco de Mayo with ‘NICE’ post, echoing past viral taco bowl moment
Family of Murdered College Student Furious as Killer Learns His Sentence: ‘It’s Not Enough’
Family makes terrifying discovery in basement following growing suspicions
Comer demands records after DC police leaders sidelined amid alleged crime data manipulation
Government Sues New York Times for Alleged Discrimination Against White Man
Obama’s Recent Political Moves Have Caused ‘Genuine Tension’ with Michelle
Trump’s grip on GOP tested in Indiana as primary battles target defiant Republicans
Trump-backed Vivek Ramaswamy wins Ohio GOP gubernatorial primary, will face Democrat Amy Acton
Sherrod Brown secures Ohio Dem nomination, faces GOP’s Husted in key battle for Senate majority
Trump Makes Bombshell Comment About Arming Iranian Protesters
Trump posts mockup of ICE rebranded to ‘NICE’ after supporter’s suggestion
Cuba, China, and the pope: Key takeaways from Marco Rubio’s raucous White House press conference
Backlash Erupts After City-Owned Water Park Advertises ‘Muslims Only’ Day
Miss Israel and Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Have Awkward Run-In at a New York City Cafe: Report
“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.
