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Lawsuit: Fox News Group Hacked, Surveilled, and Stalked Ex-Host Andrea Tantaros (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the black-room dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Comparing their actions to the plot this season on the Showtime series Homeland, an attorney for former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros has filed a complaint in federal court against Fox News, current and former Fox executives, Peter Snyder and his financial firm Disruptor Inc., and 50 "John Doe" defendants. The suit alleges that collective participated in a hacking and surveillance campaign against her. Tantaros filed a sexual harassment suit against Roger Ailes and Fox News in August of 2016, after filing internal complaints with the company about harassment dating back to February of 2015. She was fired by the network in April of 2016, as Tantaros continued to press complaints against Fox News' then-Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, and others. Tantaros had informed Fox that she would be filing a lawsuit over the alleged sexual harassment. Tantaros claims that as early as February of 2015, a group run out of a "black room" at Fox News engaged in surveillance and electronic harassment of her, including the use of "sock puppet" social media accounts to electronically stalk her. Tantaros' suit identifies Peter Snyder and Disruptor Inc. as the operators of a social influence operation using "sock puppet" accounts on Twitter and other social media.

55 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. Electronic stalking by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    Is electronic stalking illegal?

    1. Re:Electronic stalking by quantaman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Is electronic stalking illegal?

      If it's persistent and outrageous enough it can be harassment. But this stalking was done by Fox News while she was suing them, and the accounts were used to disseminate private information obtained through illegal hacking. If it can be proven I suspect a Judge will find something very illegal was going on.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    2. Re:Electronic stalking by rgmoore · · Score: 4, Informative

      Retaliation for various kinds of employee whistleblowing, including complaints about sexual harassment, is illegal. If they really were electronically stalking her as retaliation for her sexual harassment complaint, that would be grounds for a lawsuit even if the same actions would otherwise be perfectly legal.

      --

      There's no point in questioning authority if you aren't going to listen to the answers.

    3. Re:Electronic stalking by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Numerous court cases have set the precedent that "I did it on the Internet so it's not illegal" isn't usually a defense.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    4. Re:Electronic stalking by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Do you really think someone would make a unique virus [...]

      Depending on what sort of AV software you're using, making it "unique" can be as simple as adding few dozen bytes to the end of a file.

    5. Re:Electronic stalking by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      They were also the designated surrogate from 20 January 2001 to 20 January 2009, but I guess that predates the current allegations.

  2. 'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by Maritz · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone on slashdot should be familiar with sock puppets.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    1. Re:'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      You're so right buddy also you're awesome BTW.

    2. Re:'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1

      Aren't "normal quotation marks" used to show that they are the actual spoken or written words? That doesn't seem to apply in this case, as the original complaint also uses quotation marks in the manner of scare quotes.

    3. Re:'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Another use of normal quotation marks is to indicate that you are using a common or slang term in a more formal piece of writing (like a legal filing) where that word or phrase does not have a ready dictionary definition - the indication makes it clear that the slang meaning is intended rather than the literal meaning.
      So that's not scare quotes either - it's just indicating that the term 'sock puppet' in this context does not refer to the puppets made from socks that we all remember from our childhoods.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    4. Re:'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by uberdilligaff · · Score: 1

      So Slashdot is a "more formal piece of writing" now? Who knew?

      --
      Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain. --Friederich Schiller
    5. Re:'sock puppet' in scare quotes? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      No, but the legal complaint that inspired the article that got copy-pasta'd into the summary was.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  3. Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by Nutria · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have no idea who Andrea Tantaros is.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      She's not a blonde like the majority of Fox women. I'm surprised she got hired in the first place.

    2. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by Nutria · · Score: 1

      when they do get non-blondes, they are usually HOT!!

      The ones on Red Eye sure did melt steel. (Now that I've googled "Andrea Tantaros", I do recognize her.)

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    3. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Every man has dreams of 'fucking their way up the ladder'. But that's all about 'female privilege'.

      Perhaps if you found a gay boss, but still not likely, gay men are just too slutty.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Yep...say what you want about Fox News, but they sure do win when it comes to the "Hot News Chick" category.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    5. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Been there, done that. 3 men on the floor. CEO, the IT guy and me, the coder/devops guy. (Truth there was a fourth, but 'he' was 'in between' and worked a woman's job.)

      Never again. The worst part, couldn't even use the office as a dating pool, that and the coffee. (Yuban in pre measured bags, I once dared use 2 bags to try and make coffee worth drinking (failed), known as 'Mr. Twobagger' after that. Truth is, total darkness is more my M.O.)

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    6. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      I told recruiter after recruiter I left because there was too many women there. Everyone of them understood, including the female recruiters.

      I've seen marketing departments with all women staff implode from the infighting. Not a pretty sight.

    7. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Um, yeah. So beautiful on the outside, so ugly on the inside.

      Err...I don't get what you mean....?

      They all seem pretty nice to me looks AND personality?

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    8. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Fox News is trying to create a more diverse workplace.

      "We got blondes, redheads, brunettes..."

    9. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      I'd rather get my news from Castle Anthrax. The women in Fox Castle are just too perilous.

    10. Re:Proof of how long since I've watched FNC by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Remember, this is the same pack of clowns who recommended that McCain choose Sarah Palin for a running mate.

      Thanks John- now whenever I need to suppress an erection I have someone to think about other than my mother.

  4. OT - but why are comments bunched up on the left? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    For the last week or so /. has been hard to read because all the comments are squashed up in the left half of the screen. If you zoom in to read more easily it's even worse!
    Am I the only one to notice this? I haven't seen anyone mention it (not that it's easy to read comments now).
    What's going on? Same on a number of browsers and PC's, NoScript or not.
    WTF?

    Thanks in advance for any replies

  5. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    I've seen this problem only on my iPhone. Not seeing it on the PC.

  6. Why is this even on Slashdot? by JustNiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why is this even on Slashdot?

    1. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      Why is this even on Slashdot?

      What hacking & surveillance aren't enough for you?

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1

      Because there just aren't enough Microsoft stories anymore, and if slashdot commenters go 24 hours without squee'ing "M$" or "Faux News" somewhere, they feel they have written nothing clever all day. The slashdot editors are concerned about their readers' self-esteem and are happy to oblige them.

    3. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by andydread · · Score: 1

      One would think you would want to know how your go-to news source is a propaganda machine strait from the insiders.

    4. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2

      I have a question too- why does this same stupid comment get posted in every story on Slashdot?

    5. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by bongey · · Score: 1

      No Dip shit because BeauHD still isn't over the election, and he believes what Obama said that people shouldn't watch Fox News.
      His twitter feed, "Trump is a saggy sack of shit. If any one of you is even remotely considering voting for him this November, please unfollow me. "
      "That sack of shit next to Hillary is attracting flies! #debate"
      "Clinton wiped the floor with Trump tonight. Say hello to your next president, America!"
      " It's only a story because it has the 'Trump' buzzword. Stupid media is stupid."
      "I bet Trump hired the climber for publicity."

    6. Re:Why is this even on Slashdot? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      LOL- You're clearly obsessed with this guy's tweets.

      https://politics.slashdot.org/...

      https://politics.slashdot.org/...

      https://it.slashdot.org/commen...

      https://tech.slashdot.org/comm...

      Nothing original, "Dip shit", just the same crap pasted into one comment after another. Sad!

  7. Quote slang, jargon, unusual words, weird context by raymorris · · Score: 4, Informative

    Quotation marks are also used for slang, jargon, and similar unusual words, including ordinary words used for an unusual meaning, in a context in which the reader may be unfamiliar with the meaning. In this usage, quotes take the place of the phrase "what is called". Essentially you're quoting a group, rather than a person.

    For example, a newspaper article written for the general public, one might write "he met up with his 'homeboy' or "Intel's Pentium computer processors had a bug in the 'floating point unit', the part of the processor which handles fractions."

    http://www.writingwithclarity....

    http://blog.apastyle.org/apast...

  8. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by jafiwam · · Score: 1

    Someone is messing with the columns and DIVs on slashdot and has completely messed it up. Account information box floating all over the fucking place (hey, morons, I know who I am, I don't need it giant size right there on the screen) covering up content

    Then they fixed that by shoving the column over to the left taking up half the screen.

    Two words for you morons: "Staging" "Environment"

    Then, maybe some "testing"

    But whatever, the content, submissions, editing, and comments are all crap now too so I suppose it fits.

  9. Unprecedented by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is completely shocking. Who would have thought that a subsidiary of News Corporation would stoop to something like hacking and electronic surveillance? /s

    1. Re:Unprecedented by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      This is completely shocking. Who would have thought that a subsidiary of News Corporation would stoop to something like hacking and electronic surveillance? /s

      Next she'll be saying they hacked her phone... oh wait

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Unprecedented by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      That reference is so long ago, it's pre-President-Trump era, before time slowed to a crawl. Nobody remembers what you're babbling about.
      [citation needed]

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  10. RICO, flip 6 - two hole by Kevin+by+the+Beach · · Score: 1

    Now all we would need is an independent FBI and Justice Department to investigate News Corp....

    .
    .
    .
    (me rolling on floor laughing)

    Another record high temperature day by the Beach

  11. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    Seems to be a cold war going on with ad-blockers. They tried to make the ads under the summary hard to ad-block with simple filters. You need to use CSS selectors to get rid of them.

    Bring back subscriptions. I'm happy to pay for the abuse I get here.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  12. Like grandpa used to say: by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You lie down with dogs and you get up with fleas.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:Like grandpa used to say: by eyepeepackets · · Score: 2

      She agrees to go to work for known scumbags and then complains when she gets scumbaggered. Grandpa was right: Fleas.

      --
      Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
    2. Re:Like grandpa used to say: by hey! · · Score: 1

      Assigning blame to the victim is not tantamount to shifting the blame to the victim. Everyone should get the amount of blame he or she deserves.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:Like grandpa used to say: by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      It's more like she didn't want to lie down with dogs, she just wanted to work for them.

      And yes, I am purposefully being thick here. Even if she worked at a nightclub with real scum bags, I would still want her protected.

  13. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

    For the last week or so /. has been hard to read because all the comments are squashed up in the left half of the screen. If you zoom in to read more easily it's even worse! Am I the only one to notice this? I haven't seen anyone mention it (not that it's easy to read comments now). What's going on? Same on a number of browsers and PC's, NoScript or not. WTF?

    Thanks in advance for any replies

    Must be just you. /. has worked fine in chrome on android and firefox on windows all week for me. Maybe reset your browser to factory default and disable your addons?

  14. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because they are comments from progressives. If they were from conservatives, they would be bunched up on the right!

  15. *gets popcorn* by ilsaloving · · Score: 3, Funny

    It appears Fox is unravelling at the seams.

    Apparently some wishes do come true.

    1. Re:*gets popcorn* by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      As long as there's a market for right wing nonsense, there'll always be something like Fox News. If it really does crash and burn, expect Brietbart TV or Stormfront Vision to take its place.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    2. Re:*gets popcorn* by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

      Could you not have let me have my daydream for just a little bit longer? :(

  16. Re:Show us the naked photos! by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    Oh, please no!

    --
    http://www.acetonestudio.com
  17. This was posted on Ars, and it was kind of funny.. by gosand · · Score: 1

    This was the headline there:
    Lawsuit: Fox News group hacked, surveilled, and stalked ex-host Andrea Tantaros

    And the headline for the story right next to it:
    Ars Technica Live: Why it’s important to defend hackers, even the not nice ones

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  18. "Good by" then. by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This new "SJW" term seems to follow some strange grammatical rules- for example, it can only appear in conjunction with spelling mistakes.

    1. Re:"Good by" then. by bongey · · Score: 1

      It's better to make spelling mistakes than be a complete liberal idiot like you and BeauHD that thinks the Russians, Fox News and the FBI stole the election from Hillary.
      Dipshit BeauHD put this on his twitter feed, yep it is really mature writing there, no spelling mistakes, but complete shit.

        "Trump is a saggy sack of shit. If any one of you is even remotely considering voting for him this November, please unfollow me. "
      "That sack of shit next to Hillary is attracting flies! #debate"
      "Clinton wiped the floor with Trump tonight. Say hello to your next president, America!"
      " It's only a story because it has the 'Trump' buzzword. Stupid media is stupid."
      "I bet Trump hired the climber for publicity."

  19. Re: Just like Obama did to NY Times' James Risen! by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    Obama hacked, surveilled and stalked and outright harassed a reporter who had successfully dug up dirt on the Obama Administration and made them look bad under the guise of "national security" to silence him.

    Who, Sharyl Attkisson? (He launched a cyberattack on her backspace key to get it stuck so it would delete an article on Benghazi she was writing. Thanks, Obama.)

  20. Re:This was posted on Ars, and it was kind of funn by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

    Did you miss where it says "Lawsuit:" at the beginning?

  21. Re:OT - but why are comments bunched up on the lef by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    On Firefox I get a stripe like what I'm told is called "a half Brazilian" at any zoom level where the text is readable.

    It's OK on chrome. However it was working on FF before, I haven't upgraded it or anything.

    Perhaps some genius is being the clever dickie with the user-agent header.

    Are we back to the days of "This site best viewed with Nutscrape Nevergetthere"?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."