Facebook’s board is throwing public support behind Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg — who are on Facebook’s board; Recode, November 15, 2018

Kurt Wagner, Recode; Facebook’s board is throwing public support behind Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg — who are on Facebook’s board

[Kip Currier: Take note of the deliberate choice of words in the Facebook Board's statement copied below: 

"grossly unfair"

The Board doesn't say that allegations that Zuckerberg and Sandberg "knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened" were untrue. It says that the allegations were "grossly unfair". Those are two different things. The former is of a more objective nature. The latter is more subjective--and self-serving.

That "grossly unfair" phrasing telegraphs oodles of insight into the exculpatory mindset and run-the-clock-out public relations positioning of Facebook leaders: in the words of the New York Times' 11/14/18 bombshell behind-the-scenes reporting, "Delay, Deny and Deflect". 

And that "they're-doing-this-to-us" mindset is also evident in the 11/17/18 New York Times-reported words of Elliot Schrage, Facebook's former vice president of global communications and public policy, who--at an 11/14/18 Q & A for employees with Zuckerberg and Sandberg--said that "Facebook was in a difficult news cycle, and that things would eventually calm down".

Oh, and the actual makeup of the Board? You guessed it...Zuckerberg and Sandberg are "both on Facebook’s board". So, as this Recode article wryly observes, "it looks like Facebook’s executives are throwing public support behind ... themselves."

In a sense, the well-documented history of half-truths and obfuscations (see here and here) of these conflicts of interest-riven Facebook Heads shouldn't surprise us (--read Helaine Olen's 11/15/18 WaPo piece The moral and ethical rot at Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg's Facebook): they're adhering to their long-standing Utilitarianism-derived principle that "the needs of the few (i.e. anyone employed by or enriched by Facebook) outweigh the needs of the many" (i.e. the world's billions of users AND non-users who have been and continue to be impacted by Facebook's relentlessly revenue-driven, public good-eschewing practices).

The incoming House of Representatives must hold Facebook and its leaders accountable for its actions and inaction. Bring Facebook's leaders in front of Congress, under Oath, and get the answers and remedies the American people and the World are owed. That's the rightly fair thing to suggest demand from Facebook and the elected officials who represent us.

#FacebookAccountability]

"That story got us asking: Who from Facebook might be fired for the company’s missteps?

Whoever it is, it doesn’t look like it’ll be Zuckerberg or Sandberg. At least not right now.

Facebook’s board of directors issued a public statement defending the company’s efforts in fighting Russian election meddling efforts following the 2016 presidential election. It also called the story “grossly unfair.” Here’s the full statement.

“As Mark and Sheryl made clear to Congress, the company was too slow to spot Russian interference, and too slow to take action. As a board we did indeed push them to move faster. But to suggest that they knew about Russian interference and either tried to ignore it or prevent investigations into what had happened is grossly unfair. In the last eighteen months Facebook, with the full support of this board, has invested heavily in more people and better technology to prevent misuse of its services, including during elections. As the U.S. mid-term showed, they have made considerable progress and we support their continued to efforts to fight abuse and improve security.”"