A federal judge denied Meta’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit from a trio of adult entertainers who allege that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heads-roll-at-meta-as-zuckerberg-announces-massive-layoffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta executives</a>, including former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/filing-reveals-facebook-employees-that-allegedly-took-bribes-to-promote-onlyfans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg</a>, took bribes from the owner of the site OnlyFans to blacklist its competitors.
Adult entertainment performers Dawn Dangaard, Kelly Gilbert, and Jennifer Allbaugh filed the federal class-action suit — which represents roughly 100 of their peers. They contend that three Meta executives took bribes to ensure that the sites on which they performed were added to a global database that included terrorists and other dangerous organizations targeted for removal and demotion by Facebook and Instagram.
“The plaintiffs revealed in September that they obtained a leaked email from an anonymous tipster, which purports to show wire transfers from Fenix International Ltd., owner of OnlyFans, to three Meta executives,” <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/meta-fails-to-shake-performers-onlyfans-bribery-lawsuit">Bloomberg Law</a> reported. “They included Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg, vice president of Meta’s global business group Nicola Mendelsohn, and another employee Cristian Perrella.”
U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who sits in the Northern District of California, rejected Meta&#8217;s claim that the complaint does not allege the executives took steps to blacklist the plaintiffs.
“Plaintiffs’ claims are plausible,&#8221; Alsup ruled. &#8220;To the extent defendants argue that plaintiffs’ factual allegations are unreliable, that will be tested in discovery.”
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
Fenix, which is a co-defendant in the case, is owned by Leonid Radvinsky. Its OnlyFans site allows web users to pay to subscribe to accounts of performers and then shares the revenue with them. OnlyFans content creators use Facebook and Instagram to drive viewers to their sites. By allegedly bribing the Meta executives to demote or delete the posts of competitors, Radvinsky was able to increase traffic and revenue to OnlyFans, according to the suit.
Alsup cited the email that purportedly showed several wire transfers from Fenix defendants to the Meta executives as well as a Facebook whistleblower report that allegedly corroborated the plaintiffs&#8217; claims.
“Certain employees are taking bribes to protect OnlyFans on [Facebook],” the report said. &#8220;They have taken down every OnlyFans competitor.”
Clegg, a former member of the U.K. parliament who served as leader of the Liberal Democrat Party from 2007-20015 and was deputy prime minister from 2010-2015, moved to the United States after losing his seat in a 2017 election. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg named him Facebook&#8217;s vice president for global affairs and communications in 2018. In February of this year, Clegg was promoted to president of global affairs at Meta.

RUSSIA-US-INTERNET-META

Meta Loses Bid To Toss Suit Alleging Facebook Execs Took Bribes To Blacklist Adult Entertainers

Adult Entertainers

Bribery

Facebook

Media

Only Fans

U.S.

Facebook failed to block 15 out of 20 ads that contained death threats to election workers, according to a test conducted by researchers.
The probe by Global Witness and New York University&#8217;s Cybersecurity for Democracy team discovered that three-fourths of the ads submitted on the day of or the day before the November 8 midterm elections were approved.
&#8220;We tested the ability of Meta’s Facebook, Google’s YouTube, and TikTok to enforce their own policies on harmful content,&#8221; Global Witness <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/were-going-to-kill-you-all-facebook-fails-to-detect-death-threats-against-election-workers-in-the-us-while-youtube-and-tiktok-succeed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;We did this by identifying 10 of the worst examples of death threats issued against election workers in the US and then submitting them to the three platforms in the form of advertisements and recording whether the platforms accepted them for publication or not,&#8221; it added.
The tests included 10 English-language death threats and 10 similar ads in Spanish. Nine of the English threats and six of the Spanish ads were approved. The research account was not shut down on Facebook.
Global Witness reportedly contacted Facebook&#8217;s parent company, Meta, for comment.
“This is a small sample of ads that are not representative of what people see on our platforms,&#8221; a Meta spokesperson told the group. &#8220;Content that incites violence against election workers or anyone else has no place on our apps and recent reporting has made clear that Meta’s ability to deal with these issues effectively exceeds that of other platforms. We remain committed to continuing to improve our systems.”
According to Global Witness, both TikTok and YouTube suspended the research accounts for policy violations.
The researchers found that despite more resources reportedly designed to detect threatening content, Facebook failed most real-life tests against blocking the ads.
The report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-world-needs-fact-checking-tech-giants-giving-13-million-to-fund-global-fact-checking-initiatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comes</a> as Google and YouTube announced a $13 million grant to fund global fact-checking projects on Tuesday. The social media platforms (both owned by parent company Alphabet) <a href="https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/google-and-youtube-partner-with-poynters-international-fact-checking-network-on-13-2-million-grant-for-the-global-fact-checking-community/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they would provide financial support to the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), an arm of the Poynter Institute, to support “fact-checking initiatives” through 2025.
“The world needs fact-checking more than ever before. This partnership with Google and YouTube infuses financial support to global fact-checkers and is a step in the right direction,” said Baybars Örsek, the IFCN’s executive director.

Facebook Reportedly Failed To Block Ads Of Death Threats To Election Workers

2022 Election

2022 Midterms

Elections

Politics

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), a fierce defender of American civil liberties, harshly confronted FBI Director Christopher Wray about the communication between social media companies and the FBI regarding social media users’ private information.
Paul’s withering questions were prompted by a House report detailing whistleblower claims of the FBI’s bias toward the political Left.
“Is Facebook or any other social media company supplying private messages or data on American users that is not compelled by the government or the FBI?” Paul asked Wray. “No warrant, no subpoena, they’re just supplying you information on their users?”
“I don’t believe so, but I can’t sit here and be sure of that as I sit here,” Wray replied.
“Can you give us a yes or no by going back to your team and asking? Because it’s a very specific question. Because if they are, it’s against the law,” Paul said, citing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. “This was done to protect the privacy of people so we could feel like we can send an email or direct message to people without having that information given over. It’s a very specific question: Will you get with your team of lawyers and give us a specific answer? Because this is the law. If you’re doing it, then we need to go to court to prevent you from receiving this information.”
“Well, I can tell you that I’m quite confident that we’re following the law — ” Wray began.
“Well, that’s not the answer — ” Paul interjected.
“ — but what I will also follow up with you to make sure we get you more information, more detailed information,” Wray finished.
“Is the FBI obtaining anonymous social media data and then using technical methods to pierce the anonymous nature of the data?” Paul fired.
Wray paused for a long moment, then, looking puzzled, replied, “Anonymous social media data?”
“So you purchase data,” Paul explained. “People purchase data all the time and we sort of tolerate it for advertisings and things because it’s anonymous data. Are you purchasing what is said to be anonymous data through the marketplace and then piercing the anonymous nature to attach individual names to that data? &#8230; Are you purchasing data and then piercing the anonymous nature of that data?”
“So the manner in which we use — we usually use the term commercial data — is probably longer that I can explain here, But again, let me — ” Wray dodged.
“So you will not answer the question of whether or not you’re attaching names to anonymous data,” Paul charged.
“I think it’s a more complicated answer than I can give here,” Wray answered.
“So. So far we’re 0 for 2 at getting you to answer this, but you’re pledging you will actually answer the question, because you have to realize the frustration; we’ll write you a letter and your team of lawyers will write back with a 15-page letter that says nothing and you won’t answer the question. These are very specific. This is whether you’re obeying the law, whether we can have confidence. I want to have confidence,” Paul declared.
“We are obeying the law,” Wray insisted.
“Well, you’re saying that, but you won’t tell us the answer,” Paul stated. “You aren’t telling me the answer. And the answer is: Are you collecting data not compelled by a warrant? That would not be in compliance with the law. But you won’t answer that you’re not collecting that data.”
Later, Paul asked, “Are you getting tips and leads from social media companies?”
“We get tips and leads from companies, absolutely,” Wray admitted.
“You may think this is jolly well to get all this stuff without a warrant that people volunteer to you, but many of us are alarmed that you’re getting this information that are private communications between people because it is against the law; it’s against the law for Facebook or social media companies to give it to you, but it’s also against the law for you to receive it,” Paul concluded.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?c5041965/user-clip-wray" width="512" height="330" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Collage Maker-18-Nov-2022-11.19-AM

‘You Won’t Answer The Question’: Rand Paul Grills FBI’s Wray On Getting Private Info From Facebook, Social Media Companies

Rand Paul Grills FBI’s Wray On Getting Private Info From Facebook, Social Media Companies

Big Tech

Christopher Wray

Rand Paul

Social Media

Facebook officials <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-social-media-donald-trump-government-and-politics-67e9831bc2a70f5e5ae6f8aa46e25ae1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Wednesday that the social media platform has no plans to reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump, despite announcing his bid earlier this week for a second term in the White House in 2024.
Officials suspended Trump initially for only 24-hours after rioters hijacked the former president&#8217;s rally at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Other social media companies, including Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram, owned by Facebook&#8217;s parent company Meta, followed suit and suspended Trump&#8217;s accounts almost immediately.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, later placed an indefinite ban on Trump&#8217;s account on January 7, saying that &#8220;the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.&#8221;
Ivy Choi, a spokeswoman for YouTube, told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-social-media-donald-trump-government-and-politics-67e9831bc2a70f5e5ae6f8aa46e25ae1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a> the video-sharing platform also has no plans to remove the suspension on Trump&#8217;s account.
Heidi Beirich, the founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of the Real Facebook Oversight Board, told The Associated Press that social media companies would be justified to extend such restrictions or permanently ban Trump on their platforms.
&#8220;The big problem is treating candidates as if they&#8217;re in a special category and deserve special treatment,&#8221; Beirich said. &#8220;If you have a set of rules, it should apply to everyone. The decision shouldn&#8217;t be a struggle.&#8221;
The oversight board told Facebook to set a time limit on the ban, which is set to expire on January 7, 2023 — two years after the initial suspension.
Since taking over Twitter last month, Elon Musk has yet to announce if he would reinstate Trump&#8217;s account. Musk has previously said that he disagreed with the platform&#8217;s decision to suspend Trump on Twitter.
Trump, however, still manages to get his message out to the public despite big tech&#8217;s push to censor him — whether it&#8217;s through his own social media platform Truth Social or other accounts sharing his statements.
Trump said on Truth Social on October 28 that his social media platform &#8220;looks and works better,&#8221; adding he was &#8220;very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by the Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country.&#8221;
&#8220;Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly,&#8221; Trump said in the post. &#8220;It will be much smaller, but better. I LOVE TRUTH!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s fate on social media follows Meta officials announcing they would no longer fact-check the former U.S. president now that he&#8217;s officially running for office again.
According to a memo from Meta&#8217;s &#8220;news integrity partnership&#8221; team obtained by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/15/politics/facebook-fact-check-donald-trump/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>, the announcement was sent out hours before Trump made his presidential bid on Tuesday.
The directive would help those &#8220;seeking guidance regarding fact-checking political speech,&#8221; which notes such speech is ineligible for fact-checking.
&#8220;This includes the words a politician says as well as photo, video, or other content that is clearly labeled as created by the politician or their campaign,&#8221; the memo reportedly stated.
Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, told CNN the memo was &#8220;a reiteration of our long-standing policy [and] should not be news to anyone.&#8221;
Earlier this month, an investigative report from The Intercept revealed hundreds of internal documents exposing top U.S. government agencies worked closely with social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to censor American freedom of speech — under the guise of fighting disinformation — over several years.
The report showed a &#8220;very cozy&#8221; relationship between government alphabet agencies like the FBI and DHS and tech giants, including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord, Wikipedia, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Verizon Media, where they held monthly meetings — as recently as August — and exchanged emails and texts to shape online discourse.
A spokesperson from Twitter denied the allegations in a statement to The Intercept, saying the platform &#8220;[does] not coordinate with other entities when making content moderation decisions,” adding officials &#8220;independently evaluate content in line with the Twitter Rules.&#8221;

In this photo illustration, Facebook logo is seen on a

Social Media Platforms Have No Plans To Lift Bans On Trump’s Accounts Despite Third White House Bid

Social Media Platforms Have No Plans To Lift Bans On Trump's Accounts Despite Third White House Bid

Business

Donald Trump

Social Media Censorship

Twitter

YouTube

Facebook&#8217;s parent company, Meta, is reportedly planning to start making wide-scale layoffs this week in what could be the largest the industry has seen in a very long time.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/meta-is-preparing-to-notify-employees-of-large-scale-layoffs-this-week-11667767794">reported</a> that the company informed employees to cancel travel plans this week as the layoffs are expected to begin as soon as Wednesday.
The number of Meta&#8217;s 87,000 employees that are expected to be laid off could be greater than the roughy 3,700 employees who were let go last week at Twitter by the company&#8217;s new CEO Elon Musk, the report said, adding that this would be the first time that the company has made large-scale layoffs in its nearly two decade history.
The report said that the company was planning to cut expenses by “at least 10% in the coming months, in part through staff reductions.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees over the summer, “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.”
Zuckerberg said that the company was going to focus on only a few areas that are viewed as “high priority growth areas.”
“So that means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most other teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year,”  Zuckerberg said last month. “In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today.”
The value of the company&#8217;s stock has plummeted more than 70% this year for a variety of reasons and investors have wanted to see the company to dramatically cut back its ambitions for the metaverse by limiting the amount of money that the company is spending on it.
&#8220;Like many other companies in a zero rate world — Meta has drifted into the land of excess — too many people, too many ideas, too little urgency,&#8221; Altimeter Capital Brad Gerstner wrote to Zuckerberg in an open letter. &#8220;This lack of focus and fitness is obscured when growth is easy but deadly when growth slows and technology changes.&#8221;
Altimeter Capital also encouraged Zuckerberg to cut at 20% of the company&#8217;s employees.
The report said that users have been &#8220;largely unimpressed&#8221; by Meta&#8217;s metaverse project, which has cost the company $15 billion since the start of last year.
“I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment,” Zuckerberg added. “I think people are going to look back on decades from now and talk about the importance of the work that was done here.”

Allen And Company Annual Meeting Brings Business Executives, Media Moguls, And Politicians To Sun Valley, Idaho

Facebook Parent Meta To Make Massive Layoffs, Could Be Bigger Than Twitter’s Cuts, Report Says

Elon Musk

Hundreds of internal documents expose top U.S. government agencies working closely with social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to censor American freedom of speech — under the guise of fighting disinformation — over several years, as obtained and reported by <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/10/31/social-media-disinformation-dhs/">The Intercept</a>.
The Intercept’s investigative journalist Lee Fang broke the story Monday, confirming what Americans have feared in the current age of censorship that only authoritarian regimes could only dream of enacting in a nation founded on the unabridged right to freedom of speech.
By Monday Night, Fang appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight to discuss the bombshell report.
&#8220;We looked at really hundreds of documents that paint a vivid picture of the [Federal Bureau of Investigation], the [Department of Homeland Security] closely collaborating with the top social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook, to censor various forms of content under the banner of fighting disinformation,&#8221; Fang told Carlson.
Fang said the story shows a &#8220;very cozy&#8221; relationship between the government alphabet agencies like the FBI and DHS and tech giants, where they held monthly meetings — as recently as August — and exchanged emails and texts to shape online discourse.
One of those cozy relationships highlighted in the report shows a text from earlier this year between former DHS official and current Microsoft executive Matt Masterson, and Jen Easterly, a DHS director saying &#8220;the government needs to get the private sector, needs to get more comfortable with the government,&#8221; according to Fang.
&#8220;Platforms have got to get comfortable with gov&#8217;t,&#8221; Masterson allegedly said to Easterly via text. &#8220;It&#8217;s really interesting how hesitant they remain.&#8221;
Fang alluded to big government and big tech closely collaborating on reports talking about the expanded role of DHS in centering a vast collection of topic areas of policy and political topics.
According to the report, Fang emphasizes key takeaways showing that DHS plans to target inaccurate information on topics such as &#8220;the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, racial justice, U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the nature of U.S. support to Ukraine.&#8221;
The report also said that before the 2020 election, tech companies, including Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Discord, Wikipedia, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Verizon Media, met monthly with the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and other government representatives.
Fang said on his <a href="https://twitter.com/lhfang/status/1587104660355096576">social media</a> that Facebook and Twitter created special portals for the government to rapidly request takedowns of content.
A spokesperson from Twitter denied the allegations in a statement to The Intercept, saying the platform &#8220;[does] not coordinate with other entities when making content moderation decisions, adding officials &#8220;independently evaluate content in line with the Twitter Rules.&#8221;
Fang told Carlson that what started as a mission to combat foreign threats in the aftermath of 9/11 has moved towards fighting disinformation using the justification that it radicalizes the homeland and could lead to public health disruptions or political violence.
The Intercept report also includes an anonymous interview with an FBI official who said the department reassigned him from his usual job of countering foreign intelligence services to monitoring American social media accounts during the George Floyd riots in the summer of 2020.
&#8220;So they have a justification we have these documents, and they&#8217;re pushing forward with this broad censorship agenda,&#8221; Fang said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Leaked Documents Show Facebook And Twitter Worked Closely With The FBI And DHS To Police &quot;Disinformation&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/lhfang?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lhfang</a> Joins Tucker Carlson Tonight To Discuss This Bombshell Report
Link To The Intercept Piece: <a href="https://t.co/PHMEGJVngE">https://t.co/PHMEGJVngE</a> <a href="https://t.co/mhUkmTDaDe">pic.twitter.com/mhUkmTDaDe</a>
&mdash; The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1587246182413148160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Earlier this year, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the GOP senatorial candidate, filed a landmark lawsuit in May to expose how top Biden Administration officials allegedly colluded with social media companies to censor freedom of speech.
Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University, who has written about the lawsuit, said, according to The Intercept, &#8220;there is growing evidence that the legislative and executive branch officials are using social media companies to engage in censorship by surrogate.&#8221;
&#8220;It is axiomatic that the government cannot do indirectly what it is prohibited from doing directly. If government officials are directing or facilitating such censorship, it raises serious First Amendment questions,&#8221; Turley said.
The Biden administration announced earlier this year that its Department of Homeland Security would create a Disinformation Governance Board, which many conservative politicians said would crack down on freedom of speech in an unconstitutional and Orwellian move.
After facing massive opposition, federal authorities shut down the Disinformation Governance Board in August — more than three months after announcing a pause on the Board&#8217;s work.
However, according to The Intercept, the federal government has yet to cease its efforts to censor the American people.

US-IT-FACEBOOK-HEALTH-VIRUS

Big Tech Worked Closely With The FBI And DHS To Police ‘Disinformation’

2020 Election

Censorship

COVID-19

A video of a young <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> employee enjoying company perks and not appearing to do much work has gone viral and drawn online mockery just as company founder <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg?_gl=1*6z1goy*_ga*OTAwNTI1NTYwLjE2MTM5NzIxMzI.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY2NjcxOTc5Ny4xMzg3LjEuMTY2NjcxOTgxOC4zOS4wLjA." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> faces pressure from investors to cut headcount.
In the &#8220;day in the life&#8221; video, Riley Rojas described herself as a product manager at Meta, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta-will-focus-on-bringing-the-metaverse-to-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its name</a> from Facebook last year. The video, which has since garnered more than 1.5 million views on Twitter after its original posting on TikTok, is long on Meta&#8217;s benefits and short on staff meetings, reports, work calendars, laptops, or anything else related to shepherding a consumer product through its various stages of development.
According to her video, Rojas works out before fixing herself a large plate of freshly cooked breakfast food at the Meta office and making herself a coffee with a high-end machine. She says she “did some work on the roof,” a modern lounge with sofas and a fireplace, before grabbing lunch and returning home on a shuttle, after which she spent the evening with friends and her boyfriend.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24META&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$META</a> bagholders in shambles. <a href="https://t.co/0ZZ9KsxGTd">pic.twitter.com/0ZZ9KsxGTd</a>
— TTI (@TikTokInvestors) <a href="https://twitter.com/TikTokInvestors/status/1584593828769845248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Social media users also noticed Rojas’ journal, which she filled out before her morning exercise routine. Rojas had written “affirmations” such as “I am beautiful, I am smart, I am amazing, I am capable, I love my life.” Under her “to do” list, she had written “work, workout, vibe.”
Rojas’ profile on LinkedIn is impressive: She attended the London School of Economics and the University of California Los Angeles. She has been working at Meta for nearly two years and is presently a product manager for advertising monetization.
The video happened to gain traction online as Altimeter Capital Management <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount-cool-down-metaverse-push-since-no-one-knows-what-it-even-means" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reform the company’s hiring practices and focus on core competencies amid the challenging macroeconomic environment. A letter written by Altimeter CEO Brad Gerstner said that the social media company has drifted into a “land of excess” and “lack of focus and fitness.”
Among other actions, Gerstner suggested a three-step plan centered upon investing no more than $5 billion into technologies related to the metaverse, an immersive virtual reality that the company forecasts will serve as the next phase of digital communication and reducing at least one-fifth of headcount expenses. The letter noted that Meta has more than tripled its workforce from 25,000 people to 85,000 people over the past four years.
“It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” Gerstner contended. “I would take it a step further and argue that these incredible companies would run even better and more efficiently without the layers and lethargy that comes with this extreme rate of employee expansion.”
Share prices for Meta have plummeted 59.9% since the beginning of the year, significantly trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy NASDAQ, which have fallen 13.4% and 29.7%, respectively.
Technology companies were among the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lay off large numbers</a> of employees when the stock market began its most recent decline. Elon Musk, slated to purchase Twitter, reportedly plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-to-gut-twitter-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut headcount</a> at the social media company from 7,500 to 2,000.
Reducing a large share of employee-related expenditures would bring Meta to human capital investment levels seen toward the middle of last year. “I don’t think anybody would argue that Meta wasn’t sufficiently staffed in 2021 to tackle a business that looks similar to how it looks today,” Gerstner continued.

Modern open plan office space interior

Video Of 23-Year-Old Meta Employee Enjoying Perks Goes Viral As Investor Tells Zuckerberg To Cut Headcount

Meta Employee Details A Typical Workday At The Company. It Entails Very Little Work.

Economy

Generation Z

Mark Zuckerberg

Two top executives at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a>, Facebook’s parent company, and another worker, were <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/joseph-vazquez/2022/10/13/harmful-content-top-facebook-execs-named-porn-bribery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegedly</a> involved in a bribery scandal in an attempt to expand the influence of the porn company OnlyFans.
A recent court filing in a California suit showed that the three people were allegedly taking bribes in an attempt to assist the OnlyFans site in succeeding over others in the business, Gizmodo <a href="https://gizmodo.com/clegg-meta-executives-identified-in-onlyfans-bribery-su-1849649270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exclusively</a> reported Wednesday.
The lawsuit claims that Nick Clegg, Meta’s vice president of global policy, and Nicola Mendelsohn, the global business team’s vice president, were the “John Does” in a suit saying they took bribes to help OnlyFans do better than its competitors, according to Gizmodo. The third worker to be named in the Tuesday document is Cristian Perrella. The names were allegedly mistakenly published in the filing by OnlyFan’s owners’ legal team.
Earlier this year, the Meta workers were not named in a lawsuit that claims they tried to get sites that compete with OnlyFans “blacklisted” on the internet. A group of adult entertainers brought the lawsuit and said that Meta workers utilized records that are supposed to be used to inform businesses about risks for another reason — they used the information to downgrade most other adult entertainers, except for those working at OnlyFans.
The filing <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/onlyfans-lawyers-accidentally-reveal-which-meta-execs-allegedly-took-bribes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> that lawyers for the entities suing OnlyFans and Meta got a confidential tip over email with a document that allegedly revealed wire transfers that OnlyFans’ owner Fenix International Limited sent to Clegg, Perrella, and Mendelsohn. The wires seem to show that the workers took money as a bribe in this scenario.
Fenix pointed to the fact that the tip can’t be corroborated.
“Without the identity of the person who sent the email, it is impossible to assess the believability of the contents of the email,” its motion to dismiss reportedly stated.
“OnlyFans categorically denies all allegations and knows of no evidence which supports them,” an OnlyFans spokesperson <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/onlyfans-lawyers-accidentally-reveal-which-meta-execs-allegedly-took-bribes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Ars Technica.
Meta has <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/meta-top-executives-accused-of-taking-bribes-from-onlyfans-in-lawsuit-9325081.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the allegations don’t have merit and has moved to dismiss the lawsuit, but also pointed out its Section 230 protection, saying that it can’t take responsibility, even if the lawsuit is successful.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> that “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
&#8220;As we make clear in our motion to dismiss, we deny these allegations as they lack facts, merit, or anything that would make them plausible. The allegations are baseless,” a Meta spokesperson <a href="https://gizmodo.com/clegg-meta-executives-identified-in-onlyfans-bribery-su-1849649270" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
OnlyFans has <a href="https://www.engadget.com/meta-executive-onlyfans-bribery-accusations-210256474.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> in another document that it “inadvertently” revealed the Meta employees’ identities and requested that the court get rid of the filing.

BF1A14CB-1DDC-4F23-9D61-80EFD77DD435_1_201_a

Filing Reveals Facebook Employees That Allegedly Took Bribes To Promote OnlyFans

Filing Reveals Facebook Meta Employees That Allegedly Took Bribes To Promote OnlyFans

Court

OnlyFans

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/you-have-no-role-as-liberators-pink-floyd-rocker-trashes-biden-for-fueling-the-fire-in-ukraine">Pink Floyd&#8217;s</a> Roger Waters, who usually reserves his most unhinged vitriol for the state of Israel, trained his acid tongue on Facebook founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> Thursday, telling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-rogan">Joe Rogan</a>, the billionaire proved he is &#8220;in cahoots with FBI&#8221; by suppressing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden">Hunter Biden</a> laptop story before the 2020 election.
During Spotify&#8217;s &#8220;The Joe Rogan Experience&#8221; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4iCWReCqpscoTbCCSClIRu?si=OkHzMOKkTHq8AGCupJ1eWQ">podcast</a> Thursday, Waters, who is widely viewed as anti-Semitic for his frequent rants about Israel, told the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thats-not-your-job-rogan-goes-off-on-progressive-ideology-push-in-schools-drag-shows-for-little-kids">host</a> that Zuckerberg shouldn&#8217;t have his &#8220;finger on the delete button&#8221; and said the CEO is now part of the &#8220;propaganda to keep us all in line.&#8221;
&#8220;Zuckerberg, [Jeff] Bezos, you know [Bill] Gates, I don&#8217;t care who they are,&#8221; Waters said. &#8220;They are hugely rich, American oligarchs. I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s true of Russian oligarchs and Chinese oligarchs. They amass huge amounts of money because it gives them power.&#8221;
&#8220;Then they buy newspapers and television stations and whatever, so they become part of the system of propaganda to keep us all in line,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I actually wrote a sketch about &#8230; Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s not in the show.&#8221;
Waters then described the sketch that included a grumpy sounding Zuckerberg in a penthouse ordering an assistant who&#8217;s there to tell him that they&#8217;ve run out of space to store all the money to &#8220;buy another f***ing island.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-so-far-gone-rogan-says-having-biden-in-office-fing-dangerous">Rogan</a> talked about how Zuckerberg created the social network and how it&#8217;s become &#8220;wildly popular.&#8221;
&#8220;And he&#8217;s[Zuckerberg] now in cahoots with the FBI and the CIA and have some cozy meetings with them deciding who to allow to communicate with their brothers and sisters,&#8221; Waters replied. &#8220;And who to censor.&#8221;
He has <a href="https://twitter.com/rogerwaters/status/1390511223565914115">called</a> Israel an &#8220;apartheid state&#8221; and has accused the country of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ridiculous-rogan-torches-white-house-press-secretary-after-doocy-asked-about-her-2016-stolen-election-claim">Rogan</a> reminded the rocker he had Zuckerberg on his show and they discussed the squelching of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election.
Rogan said Zuckerberg told him the FBI came to them and warned them about some &#8220;Russian disinformation leading towards the election.&#8221; In response, the CEO said they decided to &#8220;limit its engagement,&#8221; as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/evidence-of-fbi-meddling-in-2020-election-mounts-after-zuckerbergs-hunter-biden-laptop-revelation">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
Waters called Zuckerberg a &#8220;prick&#8221; and said the FBI could &#8220;f*** off&#8221; with their &#8220;Russiagate.&#8221;
&#8220;They can f*** off,&#8221; the rocker said. &#8220;If I ever hear about Russiagate again &#8230;&#8221;
Rogan replied that the &#8220;fascinating part&#8221; of the laptop &#8220;disinformation&#8221; story is that it turned out not to be true.
&#8220;Well, the fact is in my view, what&#8217;s really dangerous is this prick [Zuckerberg] has any hand at all in deciding what any of us read about anything,&#8221; Waters explained. &#8220;He should not have his finger on the delete button on anything that goes through Facebook, in my view.&#8221;
&#8220;And certainly anything to do with foreign policy,&#8221; he added. &#8220;For instance, for anything to do with the Ukraine war. You can&#8217;t have Meta deciding what we should believe about that. It&#8217;s bad enough that the whole of the print section of mainstream media and all television has decided what we should believe about the Ukraine.&#8221;
&#8220;So, they&#8217;re all completely happy to tell us Russian soldiers have been raping babies to death. And then you know three days later, you find out that it&#8217;s unattributable &#8230; but nevertheless it&#8217;s already been printed. And it goes somewhere into the conscious,&#8221; Waters continued.

Roger Waters_Joe Rogan

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Tells Rogan Mark Zuckerberg Is ‘Now In Cahoots With FBI’

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Tells Rogan Mark Zuckerberg Is 'Now In Cahoots With FBI' 

Celebrities

Entertainment

Hunter Biden

Joe Rogan

Music

According to a recent survey from <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/09/Social-media-and-platform-fact-sheet-TOPLINE.pdf">Pew Research</a>, 50% of Americans get their news from social media — but the number who frequently go to social media for news is apparently declining.
The survey, which was conducted July 18 through August 21 with more than 12,000 respondents, asked a variety of questions regarding news consumption habits. Once the survey narrowed down to those who at least “rarely” get news from “digital devices,” the survey asked: “Now thinking about the news you get on a smartphone, computer, or tablet, how often do you get news from … social media such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram?”
Seventeen percent of respondents indicated that they “often” get their news from social media, while 33% said they “sometimes” do. Twenty percent responded that they “rarely” get their news from social media, and 29% said they never do.
The percentage of individuals who “often” get news from social media is down for the second year in a row. In 2020, it was 23%, and in 2021, it was 19%. The percentages for “sometimes” grew from 30% to 33%, while the combined “rarely” and “never” grew by two points, 47% to 49%.
According to the survey, the most used social media site is YouTube, with 82% of respondents indicating they use the site. Facebook comes in second with 70%, while Instagram comes in a distant third place with 47%.
This survey comes as multiple social media companies have issued more <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-pledges-to-crack-down-on-election-misinformation-ahead-of-midterms">restrictive</a> policies regarding political news.
In August, TikTok updated its political guidelines in advance of the 2022 midterm election.
“TikTok isn’t a go-to hub for breaking news, and we don’t accept paid political ads, but we are committed to combatting the spread of misinformation on the platform, including through supporting our community with education and authoritative information on important public topics like elections,” reads the election integrity policy.
Twitter and Facebook have also updated their guidelines.
In an August blog post, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp stated that their “approach” to the midterms “exceeds the measures we implemented during the last midterm election in 2018.” The updates include security to combat alleged foreign and domestic interference and influence, transparency regarding political ads, and more.
Facebook also recently came <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mccarthy-blasts-decision-decreasing-reach-of-facebook-political-content">under fire</a> from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over their decision to limit the reach of political content right in time for the midterms.
In July, following months of apparent trials, Facebook announced the means by which they would reduce the reach of political content.
“Our tests have concluded and demonstrated that placing less emphasis on likes and shares for political content is an effective way to reduce the amount of political content people experience in their Feed,” Meta stated. “We have now implemented these changes globally.”
McCarthy tweeted on August 5: “Facebook made sure no one saw the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election. But now that America has record inflation, rising crime, &amp; a border crisis —all as a result of Dem policies— Facebook is shutting down more ‘political content’ to hide the truth from Americans.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Facebook made sure no one saw the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election.
But now that America has record inflation, rising crime, &amp; a border crisis—all as a result of Dem policies—Facebook is shutting down more &#8220;political content&#8221; to hide the truth from Americans. <a href="https://t.co/RLe1W3ybTb">pic.twitter.com/RLe1W3ybTb</a>
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) <a href="https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1555610847245996032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
Dillon Burroughs contributed to this report.

Number Of Americans Who ‘Often’ Get News From Social Media Declining, Survey Says

Number Of Americans Who ‘Often’ Get News From Social Media Slightly Declining: Survey

News

When the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> wanted an Instagram account mocking <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/fauci-unmasked" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Anthony Fauci</a> taken down last year, an official reached out to parent company Meta and got action literally within seconds.
The July 20, 2021 incident, revealed in a newly surfaced email exchange, underscores the close communication between the Democrat White House and solicitous social media giants.
“Hi there &#8211; any way we can get this pulled down? It is not actually one of ours,” wrote Clarke E. Humphrey, digital director for the Biden administration&#8217;s COVID-19 response team in an email time-stamped 1:24 p.m.
Humphrey didn&#8217;t have to wait long for a reply.
“Yep, on it!” replied the recipient, whose name is redacted on the released email. The time stamp on the reply is 1:24:46 p.m. and appears to denote the same time zone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨Omfg the Biden administration literally asked Meta if they would take down a Fauci parody account on Instagram <a href="https://t.co/Lgnxo04po2">pic.twitter.com/Lgnxo04po2</a>
&mdash; Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href="https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1565407351305281536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Humphrey also cc’d others, including <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/roflaherty">Rob Flaherty</a>, deputy assistant to the president and director of digital strategy, about the account mocking Fauci, who is retiring this year from his post as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.
The document came to light after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/missouri">Missouri</a> Attorney General Eric Schmitt and his Louisiana counterpart, Jeff Landry, sued the Department of Justice in Louisiana District Court to force it to turn over communications between high-ranking Biden Administration officials from the White House, Department of State, FBI and others and major social media companies.
The attorneys general believe their action could expose how top Biden Administration officials allegedly colluded with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on a number of topics, including COVID-19. The Department of Justice has already turned over communications between a number of federal officials and social media companies, but has so far refused to provide communications from high-level government officials.
“We won in court in July, and the Court required the Biden Administration to turn over communications between federal officials and social media companies,&#8221; Schmitt said in a statement. “We have already received a number of documents that clearly prove that the federal government has an incestuous relationship with social media companies and clearly coordinate to censor freedom of speech, but we’re not done,&#8221; he continued.
Although social media companies are not part of the government and cannot be charged with violating the First Amendment, Schmitt and Landry believe that if they can show the platforms censored certain opinions, statements and beliefs at the direction of the government, it would constitute a &#8220;censorship enterprise&#8221; in violation of federal law.
“Meta, for example, has disclosed that at least 32 federal officials—including senior officials at the FDA, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the White House—have communicated with Meta about content moderation on its platforms, many of whom were not disclosed in response to Plaintiffs’ interrogatories to Defendants,” Schmitt and Landry said in a joint statement. “YouTube disclosed eleven federal officials engaged in such communications, including officials at the Census Bureau and the White House, many of whom were also not disclosed by Defendants.”
The censorship enterprise “rises to the highest levels of the U.S. Government, including numerous White House officials,” Schmitt and Landry said.

President Biden Provides An Update On Omicron Variant

White House Asked Meta To Remove Fauci Parody Account. Meta Responded In Less Than 60 Seconds.

Anthony Fauci

White House

The man who may become <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/missouri">Missouri</a>’s next GOP senator has targeted President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Biden</a>’s Department of Justice, <a href="https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2022/09/01/missouri-and-louisiana-attorneys-general-ask-court-to-compel-department-of-justice-to-produce-communications-between-top-officials-and-social-media-companies">asking a court</a> to force the DOJ to reveal communications between high-ranking Biden Administration officials and major social media companies.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, the GOP senatorial candidate, joined Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to file a Joint Statement on Discovery Disputes, to ask the Louisiana District Court to force the communications between officials in the White House and Department of State and major social media companies to be revealed.
“Missouri and Louisiana filed a landmark lawsuit back in May that seeks to expose how top Biden Administration officials allegedly colluded with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on a number of topics, including COVID-19. We won in court in July, and the Court required the Biden Administration to turn over communications between federal officials and social media companies,” Schmitt stated.
“We have already received a number of documents that clearly prove that the federal government has an incestuous relationship with social media companies and clearly coordinate to censor freedom of speech, but we’re not done, he continued. “The Department of Justice is cowering behind executive privilege and has refused to turn over communications between the highest-ranking Biden Administration officials and social media companies. That’s why, yesterday, we asked the Court to compel the Department of Justice to produce those records. We’re just getting started – stay tuned.”
The plaintiffs claim a “Censorship Enterprise” was implemented in various federal agencies. They add that although the government identified scores of officials at DHS, CISA, the CDC, NIAID, and the Office of the Surgeon General who had communicated with social media platforms, no information had been disclosed about any federal officials at other federal agencies who had done so.
“Meta, for example, has disclosed that at least 32 federal officials—including senior officials at the FDA, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the White House—have communicated with Meta about content moderation on its platforms, many of whom were not disclosed in response to Plaintiffs’ interrogatories to Defendants,” the statement charged. “YouTube disclosed eleven federal officials engaged in such communications, including officials at the Census Bureau and the White House, many of whom were also not disclosed by Defendants.”
The joint statement accused the “Censorship Enterprise” “rises to the highest levels of the U.S. Government, including numerous White House officials.”

Missouri Attorney General Republican Eric Schmitt Campaigns For Senate Seat

‘We’re Just Getting Started’: GOP Attorneys General Demand DOJ Reveal Federal Gov’t’s Communications With Social Media Giants

Department of Justice

Eric Schmitt

Google

State Department

Menu