Facebook hearing – the dog and pony show and the donations that were behind it

 

I watched a good portion of the Zuckerberg hearing. I came away from it thinking it was a dog and pony show. Most of the Senators were poorly lacking in having any real understanding of technology. They no doubt had their staff produce questions that were basically sound, then Zuckerberg would simply act as if he didn’t understand their question with the blank star and ask them to clarify. This of course left the Senators looking stupid. “How many categories of information do you collect?” “I don’t understand the question.”  People decide what is out there by what they place on their page.” Then he goes to his talking points of script. I can’t imagine the House hearing today. Why have almost 50 Senators asking questions, why not a handful that understand technology. But then again, all should be happy. He was very happy to support government regulation and would work with the Senators on it. One thing we did learn is that FB is working with the Special Counsel. But of course. Yes, we indeed want the thought police. Just like we have with YouTube. A previous post:

Southern Poverty Law Center secretly policing content for YouTube

The Southern Poverty Law Center is assisting YouTube in policing content on their platform, The Daily Caller has learned.

The left-wing nonprofit — which has more recently come under fire for labeling legitimate conservative organizations as “hate groups” — is one of the more than 100 nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and government agencies in YouTube’s “Trusted Flaggers” program, a source with knowledge of the arrangement told TheDC.

 

But let’s look at the money:

Facebook PAC donation to senators

Ahead of more testimony from Zuckerberg today, why not check out the contributions that senators on the Judiciary and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees have received for their campaigns from Facebook’s PAC since it started making political donations in the 2012 election cycle.

The totals are based on an NBC review of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Check out the full interactive here. (Scroll down a good way on the page)

Here is a bit of analysis:

A MapLight analysis of contributions found that the ubiquitous social network and its employees have given more than $3.1 million in campaign contributions to federal candidates during the last decade.

Facebook donors gave more than $265,000 to members of the Senate Commerce panel, while senators on the Judiciary committee reported $284,600 during the decade. House committee members received about $323,800 from the company and its employees. Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Silicon Valley Democrat whose district is adjacent to the sprawling Facebook headquarters, received $51,050 in Facebook-related donations.

Trump, received $4,815 from eight Facebook employees. (Brave souls- wonder if they are still working)

Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon who ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 GOP nomination and who currently is Trump’s housing secretary, ranked last among presidential candidates favored by Facebook donors, receiving only $250. H/T: Fast Company

Via Free Beacon:

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, has maxed out political donations to a number of Democratic candidates including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) this cycle, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

In addition to the donations, Sandberg appeared in the hacked emails of John Podesta, the former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

A pdf file discovered by the Free Beacon that was attached to one of the emails  spoke of ‘discreet conversations’ about forming ‘working relationships’ between the Clinton campaign and the likes of Facebook and Apple. That memo referenced the work being done for the Clinton campaign by a group linked to Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Facebook told USA Today that it is important for the tech giant to “develop relationships with elected officials” when questioned on the company’s PAC contributions that have been given to members of the committees questioning Zuckerberg.