Mark Zuckerberg

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Gizmodo Plans to Publish the Facebook Papers, Explaining the Decision

Andrew Orr ·

Partnering with experts from NYU, Mass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU, Gizmodo is planning to publish the Facebook Papers. It would be the first media outlet to do so.

We believe there’s a strong public need in making as many of the documents public as possible, as quickly as possible. To that end, we’ve partnered with a small group of independent monitors, who are joining us to establish guidelines for an accountable review of the documents prior to publication. The mission is to minimize any costs to individuals’ privacy or the furtherance of other harms while ensuring the responsible disclosure of the greatest amount of information in the public interest.

I look forward to storing a copy of the archive.

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Apple and Facebook Are on a Collision Course

Charlotte Henry ·

We’ve reported a lot on The Mac Observer about the growing tensions between Apple and Facebook. Bloomberg News has a good writeup of how things turned sour between the two tech giants, and why this may be just the beginning.

In March 2018, Facebook Inc. was in the midst of a scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and was facing serious questions about its stewardship of its users’ personal data. A commentator on MSNBC asked Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook what he would do if he were in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes. “I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cook said…. The feud has escalated rapidly over Apple’s forthcoming update to the software that powers its iPhones, which includes a requirement that developers get explicit permission to collect certain data and track users’ activity across apps and websites. Such a move could undermine the efficacy of Facebook’s targeted advertisements. In December, Facebook took out full-page ads in a trio of U.S. newspapers saying it was “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere” by opposing the changes, which it describes as an abuse of market power.

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Examining the Feud Between Apple and Facebook

Andrew Orr ·

James Titcomb has a op-ed in The Sydney Morning Herald where he pieces together the Apple-Facebook feud.

Over the past six months Facebook has become Apple’s chief antagonist, airing its gripes with investors, the media, its own employees and even the regulators writing the rules that will govern digital services for the next decade.

That is despite the companies not being traditional rivals: Apple sells hardware and runs subscription services; Facebook gets 98 per cent of its income through advertising.

I think the fundamental difference is that Facebook is doing everything in its power to become a mediator for reality. But so far it’s a mediator on platforms that it can’t control, and Apple is chipping away at some of the tools Facebook relies on, like targeted advertising.

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Mark Zuckeberg Fights European Regulators

Andrew Orr ·

In a court filing in Dublin, Ireland, Facebook says if a decision by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is upheld, the company would have no choice but to abandon Europe because of its bad business practices.

If the decision is upheld, “it is not clear to [Facebook] how, in those circumstances, it could continue to provide the Facebook and Instagram services in the EU,” Yvonne Cunnane, who is Facebook Ireland’s head of data protection and associate general counsel, wrote in a sworn affidavit.

The decision Facebook’s referring to is a preliminary order handed down last month to stop the transfer of data about European customers to servers in the U. S., over concerns about U. S. government surveillance of the data.

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If Elizabeth Warren Wins Mark Zuckerberg Will Sue the Government

Andrew Orr ·

Mark Zuckerberg is scared of Elizabeth Warren over her plan to break up Big Tech monopolies, and a leaked audio recording reveals a rant in which he pledges to sue the government if she wins. You know, just your typical Tuesday stuff.

You have someone like Elizabeth Warren who thinks that the right answer is to break up the companies … if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge. And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government. … But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.

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Activist Groups Launch Campaign to Remove Mark Zuckerberg from Board

Andrew Orr ·

Yesterday, two activist groups launched a campaign to remove Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook’s board of directors.

Digital civil rights group Color of Change and Majority Action, a corporate accountability organization, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that they will be urging Facebook shareholders to withhold their support for nominating Zuckerberg to the board.

The two groups argue that Facebook’s corporate structure gives Zuckerberg “control without adequate checks,” pointing out that he is CEO and holds 57.7 percent of voting rights in the company.

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Leaked Facebook Documents Show how Mark Zuckerberg Plays Dirty

Andrew Orr ·

Leaked Facebook documents that include emails, chats, presentations, spreadsheets, and meeting summaries show how Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s board and management team played dirty.

Zuckerberg, along with his board and management team, found ways to tap Facebook’s trove of user data — including information about friends, relationships and photos — as leverage over companies it partnered with.

In some cases, Facebook would reward favored companies by giving them access to the data of its users. In other cases, it would deny user-data access to rival companies or apps.

Basically, everything Facebook has said in public, they are doing the exact opposite in private.