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.

Federal agents arrest 3 more people in connection to Minnesota church storming

Accused US killer captured in Mexico after monthslong international manhunt for recycling bin murder

Damning Video: Trump Plays Elizabeth Warren’s Eulogy for Alex Pretti Over Footage of Pretti Wildly Attacking ICE, Destroying Property – the Result Is Truly Blistering

Ilhan Omar Has Bizarre Response When Questioned About What She Did After Being Sprayed by Vinegar

Federal judge backs away from threat to hold ICE leader in contempt

Trump and GOP eye midterm convention cities in high-stakes bid to hold House, Senate

Trump officials work to ease tensions in Minneapolis as secretive negotiations progress

Who’s turning up for oil rig work in post-Maduro Venezuela

Trump administration military strikes against drug cartels in Mexico would carry risks

Explosion at metal fabricating plant leaves at least 4 people injured in Pennsylvania

AOC voices support for anti-ICE shutdown, declines to participate

Gov Abbott issues disaster declaration to prevent screwworm fly infestation from spreading into Texas

Trump says intel chief Gabbard at Georgia FBI raid to ‘keep the election safe’

Trump warns UK it’s ‘very dangerous’ to do business with China after Starmer’s Beijing meeting

Trump administration eases sanctions on Venezuelan oil industry after Maduro’s capture

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.