(Headline USA) The recent emergence of a so-called whistleblower against Facebook raised as many questions as it answered.
After Frances Haugen was revealed to maintain strong ties to several deep-state and left-wing activist firms, her motives came under suspicion, as did those of the outlets promoting her.
Some have openly speculated that Haugen may be a false-flag plant, pushed by Facebook to shift scrutiny more toward industrywide regulation—which would do more to harm the company’s smaller US-based competitors—and less toward breaking up the social-media giant’s monopolistic stranglehold on web traffic.
Democrats, too, may be in on the con, eager to collude with Facebook on codifying pro-censorship policies that largely target conservatives under the guise of “hate speech.”
The new push comes on the heels of an announcement that former President Donald Trump plans to launch a new media company that will include a social-media component, likely to be embraced by those alienated by woke Silicon Valley companies.
But feckless mainstream media companies—who have functioned during the Biden administration as de facto propaganda mouthpieces, even to the point of encouraging the censorship of other rival media outlets—also have a role to play.
On Monday, a coalition of more than a dozen legacy outlets rolled out what they are calling the “Facebook Papers,” suggesting a coordinated push to impose new scrutiny on the company.
Given that tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google have effected the destruction of media business models, all but eradicating traditional print newspapers and the advertising revenue that came with them, such companies may, indeed, have their own ax to grind.
Nonetheless, the “bombshells” likely to be pushed in days to come should be approached with caution, under the assumption that these media are part of the Potemkin scheme to appear as if they are holding Facebook to account for its sins, only to ensure that the company faces no serious consequences in the longer term .
AP offered the following report by way of woke-splaining its purpose in pushing the series:
Just what are ‘The Facebook Papers,’ anyway?
(Associated Press) The Facebook Papers project represents a unique collaboration among 17 American news organizations, including The Associated Press. Journalists from a variety of newsrooms, large and small, worked together to gain access to thousands of pages of internal company documents obtained by Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager-turned-whistleblower.
A separate consortium of European news outlets had access to the same set of documents, and members of both groups began publishing content related to their analysis of the materials at 7 a.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 25.
That date and time was set by the partner news organizations to give everyone in the consortium an opportunity to fully analyze the documents, report out relevant details, and to give Facebook’s public relations staff ample time to respond to questions and inquiries raised by that reporting.
Each member of the consortium pursued its own independent reporting on the document contents and their significance. Every member also had the opportunity to attend group briefings to gain information and context about the documents.
The launch of The Facebook Papers project follows similar reporting by the Wall Street Journal, sourced from the same documents, as well as Haugen’s appearance on the CBS television show 60 Minutes and her Oct. 5 Capitol Hill testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee.
The papers themselves are redacted versions of disclosures that Haugen has made over several months to the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging Facebook was prioritizing profits over safety and hiding its own research from investors and the public.
These complaints cover a range of topics, from its efforts to continue growing its audience, to how its platforms might harm children, to its alleged role in inciting political violence.
The same redacted versions of those filings are being provided to members of Congress as part of its investigation. And that process continues as Haugen’s legal team goes through the process of redacting the SEC filings by removing the names of Facebook users and lower-level employees and turns them over to Congress.
The Facebook Papers consortium will continue to report on these documents as more become available in the coming days and weeks.
“AP regularly teams up with other news organizations to bring important journalism to the world,” said Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor. “The Facebook Papers project is in keeping with that mission. In all collaborations, AP maintains its editorial independence.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
