Open Society Denounces Facebook's Dirty Tricks as 'Dangerous' Threat to Democracy

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/15/open-society-denounces-facebooks-dirty-tricks-dangerous-threat-democracy
"At bottom, this is not about George Soros or the foundations. Your methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy."

byJon Queally, staff writer

The president of Open Society Foundations, the family of charitable groups run by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, has sent a sharply-worded letter to Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg to demand answers about the "frankly astonishing" revelations contained in a New York Times report published late Wednesday which says the top executive was personally behind a secret effort to smear Soros and his foundations—in some cases by pushing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories used by right-wingers—as a way to deflect from a public relations crisis and ongoing criticisms of the social media giant's business model.

"Sorry ⁦Facebook⁩ but it’s not enough to fire your agent and then to deny knowledge of their smear campaign. You need to publicly disclose all their distortions executed on your payroll." —Patrick Gaspard, Open Society Foundations

In his letter, Open Society president Patrick Gaspard says he "was shocked to learn from the New York Times that you and your colleagues at Facebook hired a Republican opposition research firm to stir up animus toward George Soros. As you know, there is a concerted right-wing effort the world over to demonize Mr. Soros and his foundations, which I lead—an effort which has contributed to death threats and the delivery of a pipe bomb to Mr. Soros' home."

Soros, as Gaspard notes, has long been a target of right-wing scorn and attacks based on his Jewish identity. "The notion," continued Gaspard, "that your company, at your direction, actively engaged in the same behavior to try to discredit people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest Facebook's role in disseminating vile propaganda is frankly astonishing to me."

Dear Ms. Sandberg:

I was shocked to learn from the New York Times that you and your colleagues at Facebook hired a Republican opposition research firm to stir up animus toward George Soros. As you know, there is a concerted right-wing effort the world over to demonize Mr. Soros and his foundations, which I lead—an effort which has contributed to death threats and the delivery of a pipe bomb to Mr. Soros’ home. You are no doubt also aware that much of this hateful and blatantly false and Anti-Semitic information is spread via Facebook.

The notion that your company, at your direction, actively engaged in the same behavior to try to discredit people exercising their First Amendment rights to protest Facebook’s role in disseminating vile propaganda is frankly astonishing to me.

It’s been disappointing to see how you have failed to monitor hate and misinformation on Facebook’s platform. To now learn that you are active in promoting these distortions is beyond the pale.

These efforts appear to have been part of a deliberate strategy to distract from the very real accountability problems your company continues to grapple with. This is reprehensible, and an offense to the core values Open Society seeks to advance. But at bottom, this is not about George Soros or the foundations. Your methods threaten the very values underpinning our democracy.

I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter with you in person, and to hear what steps you might take to help remediate the damage done by this deeply misguided--and dangerous--effort carried out at Facebook’s behest.

Sincerely,

Patrick Gaspard
President | Open Society Foundations

[TheRealNorth]

1. New nickname for Facebook

Should we just start calling it Fascistbook?

[Scurrilous]

2. K&R