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.

Thune plans to run for Republican minority leader after Dem’s midterm takeover

Abdul El-Sayed delivers major blow to GOP in Michigan after bruising Senate race

Breaking: Democrats Flip Senate Seat in State Trump Won by Double Digits

Mamdani-Backed Democratic Socialist Wins House Seat

Democrats Win Texas Governor’s Race for First Time in 30 Years as Gina Hinojosa Defeats Greg Abbott

Breaking: Democrats Deal Massive Blow to Republicans, Win Control of the Senate

Democrat Gina Hinojosa stuns Abbott, makes history as first Latina Texas governor

Trump’s gamble on Ken Paxton backfires as Democrat pulls off historic Texas Senate upset

‘Planted Fake Corpses’: Former El-Sayed Campaign Worker Charged in Alleged Conspiracy to Victimize Supporters of Israel

Teen previously convicted in shooting accused of killing pregnant mom of 4 inside Spirit Halloween

Power Outage Hits Key Michigan County Shortly Before Polls Close

Democrats score major Senate victory as Pappas defeats Trump-backed Republican in key battleground

Democrats hold firm in Georgia as Republicans fail to flip prized Senate seat

Man, 86, and his dog rescued hundreds of miles off California coast after going silent for 2 months

Michigan voters split between party loyalty and Senate candidates in closely watched race

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.