Facebook’s ‘Stoop & Scoop Routine’ Coming Before Congress

It’s got to be the biggest insult to the intelligence of the public at large in all time: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “testifying” before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11, that is. Zuckerberg, who kicked himself off in the business world as plain “Zuck” will be “testifying” to the same people who invest heavily into his company, a name that rhymes with the one he calls people who use his platform: “I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS. People just submitted it. They “trust me”. Dumb #”. (The Register, May 14, 2010)

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“Nearly 30 lawmakers hold stock in Facebook — including three who could soon be grilling its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, about a British company that usurped his firm’s data without user consent to possibly help steer elections. (RollCall, April 4, 2018)

“Twenty-eight members listed stock in the social media giant, according to Roll Call’s Wealth of Congress project. Among them, Democratic Reps. Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Joseph P. Kennedy III of Massachusetts sit on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, while Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island sits on Senate Judiciary. “Kennedy, through various trust funds, has at least $80,000 invested in Facebook, Schrader at least $15,000 and Whitehouse no less than $30,000.”

And swamp senators and congress critters not on the House Energy and Commerce Committee or Senate Judiciary make money on Facebook too. Take House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a prime example:

 “Through her husband, the California Democrat holds at least $500,000 in the social media stock. (Roll Call) “Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul reported at least $1 million in Facebook stock and some $30,000 in 2016 capital gains through his spouse and child. “Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider has at least $200,000 in the company through his wife’s IRA, while Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin, a fellow Democrat, holds stock worth at least $115,000 and had capital gains of more than $5,000, according to his 2016 financial disclosure. Ohio Republican Rep. James B. Renacci also owns at least $150,000 worth of Facebook stock.” “The “FB” ticker has been a financial boon to shareholders, with the stock price doubling over the last three years (the last two weeks notwithstanding).”

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Interesting how Congress called Zuck to appear before them to question however Cambridge Analytica, a British big data firm, obtained access to private information of millions of Facebook users under questionable circumstances, while ignoring the elephant in the room called Barack Obama’s doing the same thing by commandeering Facebook data for his 2012 reelection. But for the Congressional anti-Trump mob, here’s the thing: Cambridge Analytica reportedly incorporated the data in ad-targeting tools used by political campaigns including President Donald Trump’s winning 2016 bid. Where does Zuck stand on this? In front of the line: “I hear fearful voices calling for building walls and distancing people they label as ‘others’. I hear them calling for blocking free expression, for slowing immigration, for reducing trade, and in some cases even for cutting access to the internet. (Fox News, April 14, 2016) Here’s what the Congressmen had to say about the coming meeting with Zuckerberg in a prepared statement: “This hearing will be an important opportunity to shed light on critical consumer data privacy issues and help all Americans better understand what happens to their personal information online. We appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg’s willingness to testify before the committee, and we look forward to him answering our questions on April 11th. (Tech Crunch, April 4, 2018)

Mark Zuckerberg: “I’m really sorry that this happened”

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And that’s nothing compared to Zuckerberg’s appreciation to be heard. Following the Cambridge Analytica revelations, a movement to #deletefacebook sprang up across the internet. But it wasn’t just users who reacted.

“On March 21, Zuck issued his first response to the scandal, adding: “If it is ever the case that I am the most informed person at Facebook in the best position to testify, I will happily do that.” (Tech Crunch)

Who else would be in that position?

“Two short days later, the House and Senate put Zuckerberg on notice, saying that he is the right person to testify. CNN reported on March 27 that Zuck had come to terms with the fact that he’d have to testify and the Facebook team began preparing for his day on the Hill.” (Tech Crunch)

It shouldn’t take too much imagination to figure out what Facebook has already come up with as a defense. Meanwhile, Facebook has already left its platform stage and has moved over into the realm of desktop publishing. They’re out to kill off the competition and Breitbart was first.

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Facebook is now labeling all Breitbart Stories 'Intentionally Misleading'

Facebook is now labeling all Breitbart Stories 'Intentionally Misleading' with a Wikipedia Pop-Up to boot: “The social network, which has been under pressure from Democrats and the mainstream media since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, has added a button marked “about this article” next to all posts linking to Breitbart News pieces on the site. (Breitbart, April 4, 2018)

“Currently only viewable for American users, the button brings up a pop-up screen that displays Wikipedia’s misleading description of Breitbart News. “The description repeats several anti Breitbart News obsessions popular in the corporate and left-wing media: that the site has “misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist content,” and a single throwaway comment from former Executive Chairman Steve Bannon describing the site as a “platform for the alt-right.” Breitbart News has consistently rejected the alt-right label, which has been applied to the site by the mainstream media. “The description also uses weasel words like “has been called” – a practice that Wikipedia’s own editorial rules discourage. “Mainstream outlets like CNN and the New York Times also have Wikipedia links next to their articles, but because the encyclopedia is biased in their favor, they are not smeared in the descriptions.”

Breitbart News has reached out to Facebook for comment. But they shouldn’t count on getting it. The first thing that Facebook high rollers did once the data storm hit was to go into hiding, first Zuck and then Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

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What can the public at large expect from Zuck’s ‘testimony’ before Congress? A big fat nothingburger dripping with BS and propaganda that they’ve learned their lesson and invading the privacy of their own users won’t happen again. The meeting of the 11th is merely government (congress) meeting government (Facebook). Courtesy of ongoing lobbying, Zuckerberg knows many of those who work on the Hill by their first names. Facebook became the government when they threw in with former president Barack Obama back in 2009. Breitbart got it right on bullseye when they wrote: Once the “disruptor,” Mark Zuckerberg has placed himself on the side of a thoroughly discredited institution — the mainstream media.” And some 77 percent of the American public knows what’s going on by insisting that the mainstream media is guilty of disseminating “fake news”. Facebook even talks like the government telling clients they’ve thrown to the wolves: “Assume you’ve been scraped”. (Move along, nothing to see here, suckers) Facebook should assume forthwith that a large segment of the masses do not “like” them, and never really did. If what Mark Zuckerberg is up to by turning himself in to Congress could be defined in a single picture— it would be the recent one of him stooping and scooping while out walking his dog. Get ready for Zuck’s big ‘stoop and scoop scene’ before Congress, Oscar performed before all those he called “dumb fu*ks” for trusting him.

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