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.


Video: Trump Greets Fallen Heroes at Dignified Transfer for Troops Killed in Iran Conflict
GOP rallies around Thune after White House says Trump’s patience is ‘running out’
Six-figure private security bill for top Dem Senate hopeful fuels GOP hypocrisy claims
Former Biden Admin Official Roasts Kamala’s 2028 Chances on Fox News: ‘She Follows’
Defense industry leaders align with Trump admin plans in closed-door strategy session on Iran war funding
Justice Department withdraws subpoenas to New York Times reporters
Nancy Guthrie mystery: ‘Today’ show intruder sparks security shakeup at NBC studio
WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin smear leaves Smithsonian chief with ‘no regrets’
Former CIA Director James Woolsey, Who Served Under Clinton and Later Advised Trump, Dies at 84
Vance Boelter sentenced for shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and spouses
Montana Teen Says God Coached Him As He Used a Lasso Rope to Save Man from Drowning
Dem Rhode Island lawmaker threatens ICE: ‘Your day of reckoning will come m—– f——‘
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Why Fetterman called Mamdani a ‘clown’
Joe Rogan says ex-con guest allegedly killed man, hid dismembered remains month after podcast
Illegal Alien Released Into US by Obama Administration Charged with Killing 3 in Hit-and-Run
See also  Five dead after group attempts to save struggling swimmer in Ohio

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.


Video: Trump Greets Fallen Heroes at Dignified Transfer for Troops Killed in Iran Conflict
GOP rallies around Thune after White House says Trump’s patience is ‘running out’
Six-figure private security bill for top Dem Senate hopeful fuels GOP hypocrisy claims
Former Biden Admin Official Roasts Kamala’s 2028 Chances on Fox News: ‘She Follows’
Defense industry leaders align with Trump admin plans in closed-door strategy session on Iran war funding
Justice Department withdraws subpoenas to New York Times reporters
Nancy Guthrie mystery: ‘Today’ show intruder sparks security shakeup at NBC studio
WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin smear leaves Smithsonian chief with ‘no regrets’
Former CIA Director James Woolsey, Who Served Under Clinton and Later Advised Trump, Dies at 84
Vance Boelter sentenced for shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and spouses
Montana Teen Says God Coached Him As He Used a Lasso Rope to Save Man from Drowning
Dem Rhode Island lawmaker threatens ICE: ‘Your day of reckoning will come m—– f——‘
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Why Fetterman called Mamdani a ‘clown’
Joe Rogan says ex-con guest allegedly killed man, hid dismembered remains month after podcast
Illegal Alien Released Into US by Obama Administration Charged with Killing 3 in Hit-and-Run

“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.

See also  Five dead after group attempts to save struggling swimmer in Ohio

“That’s extremely troubling.”


Video: Trump Greets Fallen Heroes at Dignified Transfer for Troops Killed in Iran Conflict
GOP rallies around Thune after White House says Trump’s patience is ‘running out’
Six-figure private security bill for top Dem Senate hopeful fuels GOP hypocrisy claims
Former Biden Admin Official Roasts Kamala’s 2028 Chances on Fox News: ‘She Follows’
Defense industry leaders align with Trump admin plans in closed-door strategy session on Iran war funding
Justice Department withdraws subpoenas to New York Times reporters
Nancy Guthrie mystery: ‘Today’ show intruder sparks security shakeup at NBC studio
WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin smear leaves Smithsonian chief with ‘no regrets’
Former CIA Director James Woolsey, Who Served Under Clinton and Later Advised Trump, Dies at 84
Vance Boelter sentenced for shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and spouses
Montana Teen Says God Coached Him As He Used a Lasso Rope to Save Man from Drowning
Dem Rhode Island lawmaker threatens ICE: ‘Your day of reckoning will come m—– f——‘
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Why Fetterman called Mamdani a ‘clown’
Joe Rogan says ex-con guest allegedly killed man, hid dismembered remains month after podcast
Illegal Alien Released Into US by Obama Administration Charged with Killing 3 in Hit-and-Run

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

See also  Five dead after group attempts to save struggling swimmer in Ohio

Video: Trump Greets Fallen Heroes at Dignified Transfer for Troops Killed in Iran Conflict
GOP rallies around Thune after White House says Trump’s patience is ‘running out’
Six-figure private security bill for top Dem Senate hopeful fuels GOP hypocrisy claims
Former Biden Admin Official Roasts Kamala’s 2028 Chances on Fox News: ‘She Follows’
Defense industry leaders align with Trump admin plans in closed-door strategy session on Iran war funding
Justice Department withdraws subpoenas to New York Times reporters
Nancy Guthrie mystery: ‘Today’ show intruder sparks security shakeup at NBC studio
WATCH: ‘Shocking’ Ben Franklin smear leaves Smithsonian chief with ‘no regrets’
Former CIA Director James Woolsey, Who Served Under Clinton and Later Advised Trump, Dies at 84
Vance Boelter sentenced for shootings of Minnesota lawmakers and spouses
Montana Teen Says God Coached Him As He Used a Lasso Rope to Save Man from Drowning
Dem Rhode Island lawmaker threatens ICE: ‘Your day of reckoning will come m—– f——‘
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Why Fetterman called Mamdani a ‘clown’
Joe Rogan says ex-con guest allegedly killed man, hid dismembered remains month after podcast
Illegal Alien Released Into US by Obama Administration Charged with Killing 3 in Hit-and-Run

“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