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.
Harris pushes Georgia Democrats to turn ‘pain into purpose’ in fight against ‘tyrant’ Trump
National Democrats leave Mary Peltola to fend for herself amid Alaska Senate scandal
Breaking: Sir Patrick Stewart, Legend from Star Trek and X-Men, Has Died Due to Previously Undisclosed Health Issues
Judge grills AG’s office in Cornell sex assault case as ex-frat bro’s lawyer demands ouster over alleged bias
9 Alleged Cartel-Linked Train Bandits Arrested in California
Dem probes could ‘torture’ young Trump officials with crushing legal bills, subpoenaed conservative warns
Woman shot outside Virginia GOP headquarters in Richmond, party confirms
Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted
Why Lula’s reelection in Brazil is ‘not gonna make democratizing Cuba any easier’
Dead felon voting controversy grows as ‘Betty No Last Name’ surfaces in Spanberger’s rights restoration push
Bombshell: Ex-Wife Levels New Rape, Incest Accusations at Hugh Hefner, the Man Who Mainstreamed Pornography
Trump’s attacks on Abdul el Sayed could backfire with the Arab Americans who backed Republicans in 2024
Libertarians challenge Trump-backed Republicans, look to shake up midterms beyond GOP-Dem duopoly
OpenAI Sued for Wrongful Death After ChatGPT Allegedly Convinced Woman to Change Medication
Obama admin first launched the investigation into Ilhan Omar’s alleged brother marriage
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.
Harris pushes Georgia Democrats to turn ‘pain into purpose’ in fight against ‘tyrant’ Trump
National Democrats leave Mary Peltola to fend for herself amid Alaska Senate scandal
Breaking: Sir Patrick Stewart, Legend from Star Trek and X-Men, Has Died Due to Previously Undisclosed Health Issues
Judge grills AG’s office in Cornell sex assault case as ex-frat bro’s lawyer demands ouster over alleged bias
9 Alleged Cartel-Linked Train Bandits Arrested in California
Dem probes could ‘torture’ young Trump officials with crushing legal bills, subpoenaed conservative warns
Woman shot outside Virginia GOP headquarters in Richmond, party confirms
Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted
Why Lula’s reelection in Brazil is ‘not gonna make democratizing Cuba any easier’
Dead felon voting controversy grows as ‘Betty No Last Name’ surfaces in Spanberger’s rights restoration push
Bombshell: Ex-Wife Levels New Rape, Incest Accusations at Hugh Hefner, the Man Who Mainstreamed Pornography
Trump’s attacks on Abdul el Sayed could backfire with the Arab Americans who backed Republicans in 2024
Libertarians challenge Trump-backed Republicans, look to shake up midterms beyond GOP-Dem duopoly
OpenAI Sued for Wrongful Death After ChatGPT Allegedly Convinced Woman to Change Medication
Obama admin first launched the investigation into Ilhan Omar’s alleged brother marriage
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.”
Harris pushes Georgia Democrats to turn ‘pain into purpose’ in fight against ‘tyrant’ Trump
National Democrats leave Mary Peltola to fend for herself amid Alaska Senate scandal
Breaking: Sir Patrick Stewart, Legend from Star Trek and X-Men, Has Died Due to Previously Undisclosed Health Issues
Judge grills AG’s office in Cornell sex assault case as ex-frat bro’s lawyer demands ouster over alleged bias
9 Alleged Cartel-Linked Train Bandits Arrested in California
Dem probes could ‘torture’ young Trump officials with crushing legal bills, subpoenaed conservative warns
Woman shot outside Virginia GOP headquarters in Richmond, party confirms
Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted
Why Lula’s reelection in Brazil is ‘not gonna make democratizing Cuba any easier’
Dead felon voting controversy grows as ‘Betty No Last Name’ surfaces in Spanberger’s rights restoration push
Bombshell: Ex-Wife Levels New Rape, Incest Accusations at Hugh Hefner, the Man Who Mainstreamed Pornography
Trump’s attacks on Abdul el Sayed could backfire with the Arab Americans who backed Republicans in 2024
Libertarians challenge Trump-backed Republicans, look to shake up midterms beyond GOP-Dem duopoly
OpenAI Sued for Wrongful Death After ChatGPT Allegedly Convinced Woman to Change Medication
Obama admin first launched the investigation into Ilhan Omar’s alleged brother marriage
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.”
Harris pushes Georgia Democrats to turn ‘pain into purpose’ in fight against ‘tyrant’ Trump
National Democrats leave Mary Peltola to fend for herself amid Alaska Senate scandal
Breaking: Sir Patrick Stewart, Legend from Star Trek and X-Men, Has Died Due to Previously Undisclosed Health Issues
Judge grills AG’s office in Cornell sex assault case as ex-frat bro’s lawyer demands ouster over alleged bias
9 Alleged Cartel-Linked Train Bandits Arrested in California
Dem probes could ‘torture’ young Trump officials with crushing legal bills, subpoenaed conservative warns
Woman shot outside Virginia GOP headquarters in Richmond, party confirms
Report on alleged ‘second Dan Sullivan’ effort emerges after nearly 1 in 10 Alaskans voted
Why Lula’s reelection in Brazil is ‘not gonna make democratizing Cuba any easier’
Dead felon voting controversy grows as ‘Betty No Last Name’ surfaces in Spanberger’s rights restoration push
Bombshell: Ex-Wife Levels New Rape, Incest Accusations at Hugh Hefner, the Man Who Mainstreamed Pornography
Trump’s attacks on Abdul el Sayed could backfire with the Arab Americans who backed Republicans in 2024
Libertarians challenge Trump-backed Republicans, look to shake up midterms beyond GOP-Dem duopoly
OpenAI Sued for Wrongful Death After ChatGPT Allegedly Convinced Woman to Change Medication
Obama admin first launched the investigation into Ilhan Omar’s alleged brother marriage
“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.









