News Opinons Politics

Daily Beast Says Facebook Helped Them Dox Trump Supporter

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.


Newly Released COVID Email Shows FDA Head Warning Fauci of Vax Side Effects, Then Eerie 4-Word Response from the Disgraced COVID Chief
Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades
Watch: Mom, Daughter Threatened with Ejection Over Pro-Girl Shirts, Despite Paying $2k for Tickets Just to Support Sophie Cunningham
LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory
Watch: In Just 30 Seconds Bill Maher Uses Actual History to Defeat One of Palestinians’ Dirtiest Gaza Lies
Mamdani’s New York: Man Charged with Hate Crime After Randomly Attacking Jewish Woman, 63, at Synagogue
Babysitter accused of kidnapping two young sisters was previously charged with abducting newborn
Luigi Mangione’s New York murder trial adjourned until December over double jeopardy concerns
Trump meets teen lifeguard and boy saved in viral ocean rescue at Oval Office
Hasan Piker Says Candace Owens ‘Single-Handedly’ Protected Left-Wing Extremism with Charlie Kirk Theories: ‘I Am a Fan’
Trump gutted South Korea military drills due to lack of help against Iran
Mass. Mayor Who Allegedly Stole $1.5M in COVID Funds Won’t Answer Media Questions Because He Says He Can’t Speak English
House Democrat investigated over alleged ‘inappropriate sexual contact’ with staffer
Justice Department expands fraud office’s prosecutorial reach
DOJ opens new pathway to restore federal gun rights for certain barred individuals

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.


Newly Released COVID Email Shows FDA Head Warning Fauci of Vax Side Effects, Then Eerie 4-Word Response from the Disgraced COVID Chief
Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades
Watch: Mom, Daughter Threatened with Ejection Over Pro-Girl Shirts, Despite Paying $2k for Tickets Just to Support Sophie Cunningham
LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory
Watch: In Just 30 Seconds Bill Maher Uses Actual History to Defeat One of Palestinians’ Dirtiest Gaza Lies
Mamdani’s New York: Man Charged with Hate Crime After Randomly Attacking Jewish Woman, 63, at Synagogue
Babysitter accused of kidnapping two young sisters was previously charged with abducting newborn
Luigi Mangione’s New York murder trial adjourned until December over double jeopardy concerns
Trump meets teen lifeguard and boy saved in viral ocean rescue at Oval Office
Hasan Piker Says Candace Owens ‘Single-Handedly’ Protected Left-Wing Extremism with Charlie Kirk Theories: ‘I Am a Fan’
Trump gutted South Korea military drills due to lack of help against Iran
Mass. Mayor Who Allegedly Stole $1.5M in COVID Funds Won’t Answer Media Questions Because He Says He Can’t Speak English
House Democrat investigated over alleged ‘inappropriate sexual contact’ with staffer
Justice Department expands fraud office’s prosecutorial reach
DOJ opens new pathway to restore federal gun rights for certain barred individuals

“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.”


Newly Released COVID Email Shows FDA Head Warning Fauci of Vax Side Effects, Then Eerie 4-Word Response from the Disgraced COVID Chief
Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades
Watch: Mom, Daughter Threatened with Ejection Over Pro-Girl Shirts, Despite Paying $2k for Tickets Just to Support Sophie Cunningham
LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory
Watch: In Just 30 Seconds Bill Maher Uses Actual History to Defeat One of Palestinians’ Dirtiest Gaza Lies
Mamdani’s New York: Man Charged with Hate Crime After Randomly Attacking Jewish Woman, 63, at Synagogue
Babysitter accused of kidnapping two young sisters was previously charged with abducting newborn
Luigi Mangione’s New York murder trial adjourned until December over double jeopardy concerns
Trump meets teen lifeguard and boy saved in viral ocean rescue at Oval Office
Hasan Piker Says Candace Owens ‘Single-Handedly’ Protected Left-Wing Extremism with Charlie Kirk Theories: ‘I Am a Fan’
Trump gutted South Korea military drills due to lack of help against Iran
Mass. Mayor Who Allegedly Stole $1.5M in COVID Funds Won’t Answer Media Questions Because He Says He Can’t Speak English
House Democrat investigated over alleged ‘inappropriate sexual contact’ with staffer
Justice Department expands fraud office’s prosecutorial reach
DOJ opens new pathway to restore federal gun rights for certain barred individuals

“Facebook confirmed to the reporter that the video was first posted “directly from Brooks’ personal Facebook account.”


Newly Released COVID Email Shows FDA Head Warning Fauci of Vax Side Effects, Then Eerie 4-Word Response from the Disgraced COVID Chief
Illegal immigrant learns fate after using stolen identity to vote in US elections for decades
Watch: Mom, Daughter Threatened with Ejection Over Pro-Girl Shirts, Despite Paying $2k for Tickets Just to Support Sophie Cunningham
LA gun owners stuck waiting years for concealed carry permits score major DOJ victory
Watch: In Just 30 Seconds Bill Maher Uses Actual History to Defeat One of Palestinians’ Dirtiest Gaza Lies
Mamdani’s New York: Man Charged with Hate Crime After Randomly Attacking Jewish Woman, 63, at Synagogue
Babysitter accused of kidnapping two young sisters was previously charged with abducting newborn
Luigi Mangione’s New York murder trial adjourned until December over double jeopardy concerns
Trump meets teen lifeguard and boy saved in viral ocean rescue at Oval Office
Hasan Piker Says Candace Owens ‘Single-Handedly’ Protected Left-Wing Extremism with Charlie Kirk Theories: ‘I Am a Fan’
Trump gutted South Korea military drills due to lack of help against Iran
Mass. Mayor Who Allegedly Stole $1.5M in COVID Funds Won’t Answer Media Questions Because He Says He Can’t Speak English
House Democrat investigated over alleged ‘inappropriate sexual contact’ with staffer
Justice Department expands fraud office’s prosecutorial reach
DOJ opens new pathway to restore federal gun rights for certain barred individuals

“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.

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter