The liberal media may be outraged by Facebook’s opposition research on George Soros, but the company’s board of directors is not. They defended Facebook’s decision as “entirely appropriate” following the billionaire’s attacks on the social media giant, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported Dec. 5, that Facebook sent a letter from its board to Soros’ Open Society Foundations, justifying Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s request for research into the billionaire liberal donor and well-known investor. One question she wanted answered was whether he had any “investments and trading activity related to Facebook.”
The Dec. 4, letter from Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch said, “To be clear, Ms. Sandberg's question was entirely appropriate given her role as COO. When a well-known and outspoken investor attacks your company publicly, it is fair and appropriate to do this level of diligence."
Until recently, conservatives have viewed Facebook as the enforcer of the censorius left, which isn’t wrong. But after recent revelations from liberal New York Times investigative pieces, the left has openly criticized Facebook for enabling conservatives.
The Times broke the story about Facebook looking into Soros and hiring a firm to research him in mid-November. Later stories indicated Sandberg’s role in that research following Soros’ condemnation of Facebook (and Google) as a “menace” at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January 2018. Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs to provide some research, but the firm’s connection to the GOP riled the left. The agency specializes in providing opposition research for political campaigns.
In a November interview with CBS, Sandberg defended her company’s choice to enlist them, saying “We absolutely did not pay anyone to create fake news… we're doing a thorough look into what happened but they have assured me that we were not paying anyone to either write or promote anything that was false.”
Facebook cut ties with Definers following a critical New York Times story about the relationship. The Times has attacked Facebook since mid-November, over ties to Definers and the Soros research even though Buzzfeed released a “largely innocuous” memo on Dec. 1, throwing cold water on the controversy. The paper published 18 stories or columns about Facebook/Soros between Nov. 15, and Dec. 3.
