The head of billionaire George Soros' philanthropic organization has called for 'congressional oversight' of Facebook after the company confirmed it had hired a public relations firm to dig up dirt on Soros.
'Sorry, but this needs independent, congressional oversight,' Open Society Foundations President Patrick Gaspard wrote on Twitter Wednesday, following Facebook's admission it had hired the Definers PR firm.
'So @facebook decides to drop a turkey on Thanksgiving eve, with admission that Definers was tasked by company leadership to target and smear George Soros because he publicly criticized their out of control business model,' Gaspard wrote.
Earlier Wednesday, Facebook's outgoing Head of Communications and Policy Elliot Schrage published a blog post detailing the company's decision to hire Definers Public Affairs, a Republican-affiliated firm, to research Soros.
Open Society Foundations President Patrick Gaspard (above last month) called for 'congressional oversight' of Facebook over the company's research on George Soros
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (left) has said he will not step down after it was revealed that the company hired a PR firm to dig dirt on billionaire George Soros (right)
Schrage wrote that Definers had looked into Soros after the billionaire called Facebook a 'menace to society' in a speech at Davos in January 2018.
Definers later prepared and distributed research showing that Soros funded several organizations in an anti-Facebook coalition, Schrage wrote.
Regarding the research, Gaspard accused Facebook of 'making claims about a behind the scenes puppet master role that is a total fiction with the intent of delegitimization of critics and stirring up polarization.'
He compared it to efforts to portray Soros as the funding source behind the migrant caravan and protests against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied having any knowledge of the company's PR campaign against Soros until it was made public by a New York Times investigation.
Sheryl Sandberg, the company's chief operating officer, also denied having knowledge of the hiring of Definers.
However, in a statement supplementing Schrage's blog post, she said she recently learned that the PR company's work had 'crossed my desk'.
Facebook's outgoing Head of Communications and Policy Elliot Schrage (above) published a blog post detailing the company's decision to hire Definers Public Affairs to research Soros
Schrage defended Facebook's investigation into Soros as a response to the liberal financier calling the company a 'menace to society' during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last January.
'We had not heard such criticism from him before and wanted to determine if he had any financial motivation,' Schrage said Wednesday.
'Some of this work is being characterized as opposition research,' Schrage wrote.
'But I believe it would be irresponsible and unprofessional for us not to understand the backgrounds and potential conflicts of interest of our critics'.
Facebook has since cut ties with Definers. In the memo, Schrage said the blame lies with him and Facebook's communications team.
Schrage said Facebook did not ask Definers to create or distribute fake news.
Schrage announced in June he would be stepping down, in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but has stayed on during the search for a replacement.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said he had no intention of stepping down as chairman of Facebook.
While some Facebook shareholders and analysts have called for Zuckerberg to step down as chairman, he said Tuesday 'That's not the plan'.
He told CNN on Tuesday that he hopes to work with Sandberg 'for decades' to come.
Link hienalouca.comhttps://hienalouca.com/2018/11/23/head-of-george-soros-philanthropic-foundation-calls-for-congressional-oversight-of-facebook/
Main photo article The head of billionaire George Soros’ philanthropic organization has called for ‘congressional oversight’ of Facebook after the company confirmed it had hired a public relations firm to dig up dirt on Soros.
‘Sorry, but this needs independent, congressional...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/11/23/16/6563852-6422181-image-a-1_1542991183668.jpg
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