INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Facebook is still dealing with the fallout from a New York Times report outlining the company strategy to fight back against criticism,
particularly its work with Definers Public Affairs, an opposition research firm with ties to the Republican Party.
That work included a
document that Definers sent to reporters suggesting ties between George Soros and progressive political groups criticizing Facebook
The Times story described the broad strokes of the claims made by Definers, but the document itself has not been shared with the public —
until today, when it was published by BuzzFeed.
At this point, the contents aren&t particularly revelatory, but the document is still worth
reading, since it at the center of the recent controversy.
It titled &Freedom From Facebook Potential Funding,& and it begins:
Recently, a
number of progressive groups came together to form the Freedom From Facebook campaign which has a six-figure ad budget
It is not clear who is providing the large amount of funding for the campaign but at least four of the groups in the coalition receive
funding or are aligned with George Soros who has publicly criticized Facebook
It is very possible that Soros is funding Freedom From Facebook.
The document goes on to point out connections between Soros and several of
the groups involved in Freedom From Facebook, and it notes Soros& public criticism of Facebook and Google
On its own, the document seems &largely innocuous& (as BuzzFeed put it), but it become controversial for potentially playing into
anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Soros.
A Freedom From Facebook spokesperson has said that no money from Soros was used to fund the
campaign — in fact, Axios reported that its initial funding came from David Magerman,a Pennsylvania-based philanthropist andformer hedge
fund executive.
Sheryl Sandberg knew more of Facebook work with Definers than she let on
According to BuzzFeed, this is one of at least
two documents that Definers prepared after Soros made critical remarks about Facebook and Google at Davos.
Meanwhile, CEO Mark Zuckerberg
and COO Sheryl Sandberg have denied knowledge of Definers& work for Facebook, and outgoing head of public policy Elliot Schrage took
responsibility for hiring the firm
But Facebook later acknowledged that Sandberg had asked the communications team to research Soros& financial ties after he criticized the
company, and reporting by my colleague Taylor Hatmaker suggests that Sandberg was more aware of Definers& work than initially
acknowledged.
When reached for comment, a Facebook spokesperson pointed us to Schrage post and said the company has nothing further to
