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Latest WikiLeaks Reveal Suggests Facebook Is Too Close For Comfort With Clinton (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: As we quickly approach the November 8th elections, email leaks from the Clinton camp continue to loom over the presidential candidate. The latest data dump from WikiLeaks shines a light on emails between Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta and Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg. In one email exchange, dated June 6th, 2015, Sandberg expresses her desire for Clinton to become president, writing to Podesta, "And I still want HRC to win badly. I am still here to help as I can." While that was a private exchange, Sandberg also made her zest for seeing Clinton as the 45th President of the United States publicly known in a Facebook post on July 28th of this year. None of that is too shocking when you think about it. Sandberg has every right to endorse whichever candidate she wants for president. However, a later exchange between Sandberg and Podesta showed that Mark Zuckerberg was looking to get in on the action a bit, and perhaps curry favor with Podesta and the Clinton camp in shaping public policy. Donald Trump has long claimed that Clinton is too cozy with big businesses, and one cannot dismiss the fact that Facebook has a global user base of 1.7 billion users. When you toss in the fact that Facebook came under fire earlier this year for allegedly suppressing conservative news outlets in the Trending News bar, questions begin to arise about Facebook's impartiality in the political race. The report also notes that Sandberg is at the top of the list when it comes to picks for Treasury Secretary, if Clinton wins the election. In an interview with Politico, David Segal, executive director for Demand Progress, said "[Sandberg] is a proxy for this growing problem that is the hegemony of five to ten major Silicon Valley platforms." Lina Khan, a fellow with the Open Markets Program at the New American think tank adds: "If a senior Cabinet member is from Facebook, at worst it could directly interfere [in antitrust actions]. But even in the best of cases there's a real worry that it will have a chilling effect on good-faith antitrust efforts to scrutinize potential anti-competitive implications of dominant tech platforms."

10 of 437 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So what? by bahwi · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm going to have to disagree, Fox's slogan was "Fair and Balanced" for a very long time. It may be obvious and blatant, but they deny it every chance they get.

  2. What bothers me more by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Informative

    It bugs me that this is even an issue. Why are so many people apparently willing to get their news from Facebook?

    Develop some critical thinking skills, people.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  3. Re:So says every SJW attacking Peter Thiel by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Informative

    Both sides!!!1!?!!!

    Thiel gave $1.25M to a candidate who'd just had it revealed he has serious problems with women (to put a politically correct spin on it), who is/was telling people he wouldn't accept the results of the election if he loses, and who previously has supported violence against his opponents, who is threatening legal sanctions against his opponents and the press, and who has engaged in racial scapegoating and in dehumanizing minorities.

    Clinton has done none of those things (with the possible exception of one dubious comment about "predators" aimed at criminals in the 1990s that she's since apologized for.) So yeah, even though we don't like Clinton very much, we absolutely reserve the right to be angry that someone's response to a candidate boasting they can sexually assault women and get away with it is to give him money.

    If Thiel had given money to Jeb Bush, nobody would have bat an eyelid. Nobody was angry when numerous billionaires gave Romney, McCain, or Bush Jr lots of money at the last few elections either. The fact you can't tell the difference between donating to Trump and donating to those guys or Clinton suggests you've been living under a rock this election campaign - or else actually think there's nothing wrong with sexual assault, opposing democratic elections (and supporting violence in politics), silencing critics, and attacking minorities.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  4. Correction - which "The New American": by jhecht · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wrong group. The New American is indeed a magazine published by the John Birch Society, as clearly stated on their web site . However, the original poster made an error. Lina Khan is a fellow in a program run by The New America Foundation , which was founded in 1999. According to Soucewatch, the New America Foundation received over $6 million through 2013 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and lesser amounts from other foundations. https://tech.slashdot.org/stor...

  5. Re:Who would have thought? by PvtVoid · · Score: 1, Informative

    effective at what exactly and to whos benefit? not the american people thats for sure

    Well, let's see:

    - Strengthening the Affordable Care Acts is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Increasing taxes on the very wealthy to close the deficit is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Strengthened bank legislation is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Sensible gun control legislation is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Wider access to women's health care (including abortion) is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Appointing non-right-wing Supreme Court justices is to the benefit of the American people.
    - Supporting LGBT rights it to the benefit of the American people.

    I could go on. I am going to be very pleased to have Hillary in the White House.

  6. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Hilarious that you think every media outlet that isn't extremely far to the right is blatantly left.

    Being in the center only makes them more left than you.

  7. Re:The New American: by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not ad hominem if they really are scum.

    Yes, it is. The scumminess or non-scumminess of the source is not relevant to the strength of their argument. If they are scum, it may be more likely that they have made false arguments, but it is not guaranteed, and the proper counter is to root out the falsity of their arguments.

  8. Re:Just like China by ooloorie · · Score: 3, Informative

    We used to have this document that listed the limited powers of the federal government and strictly forbade it from doing most everything else but nobody pays attention to that thing anymore.

    It was a good idea, and it actually lasted quite a while in comparison to other nations. However, even the Founding Fathers were not optimistic that this was going to last forever. As Jefferson wrote:

    the people can not be all, & always, well informed. the part which is wrong [. . .] will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. if they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. we have had 13. states independant 11. years. there has been one rebellion. that comes to one rebellion in a century & a half for each state. what country before ever existed a century & half without a rebellion? & what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? let them take arms. the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon & pacify them. what signify a few lives lost in a century or two? the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it’s natural manure.

  9. Re: Why even have elections? by The+Real+Dr+John · · Score: 3, Informative

    I supported Bernie Sanders, and the DNC used every cheating dirty trick in the book to make sure he failed. If Independents had been allowed to vote in all the primaries, he would have won. Jill Stein is the only other candidate that is talking about the same issues. Clinton is talking about no fly zones over Syria. You also know she will push through any trade deals that Obama fails to get passed. I voted for the Democrats most of my life (my first presidential vote was for Carter). But that is over. Now that they are the other corporate controlled party, I will be sticking with the Greens until the DNC gets taken back from the billionaires.

    --
    A brain is a terrible thing to waste... Mind? That's debatable.
  10. Except by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 3, Informative

    Most of what she has supposedly "Done" are outright fabrications.

    How many "investigations" have to come up empty before you admit that there is no fire behind the smoke that Republicans call Benghazi?

    Clinton Foundation is shown to have average overhead expenses.

    Etc.